Thoughts on the Mining Law of 1872

Today one of the oldest laws still in effect in America that impacts the mining industry is the 1872 Mining Law. President Ulysses S. Grant signed this into law for several reasons. One was to protect the rights of miners and the other was to help the development of the public lands in the early frontier days of America. Contrary to popular political opinion the early prospectors and miners had reason to be concerned with environmental impact for their own safety. The 49ers and those that followed while different in many ways from the modern prospector or miner were not stupid people stumbling about the earth digging mines for no reason. In those days the population of the earth was much different, the amount of waste and toxins from humans and industry was much different thus the way people thought was different. The original mining law was the Mining Law of 1866 this law was updated in 1870 and then in 1872 made into the Mining law of 1872.

The mining laws and particularly the Mining Law of 1872 was used by the U.S. government as part of westward expansion, an incentive for settlers to go west. Today recreational prospectors as well as small and large scale mining companies face many challenges due to the changes in political opinion towards mining. Often lobbyist attempt to have large areas closed to mining because a certain plant grows in the area or certain animals live there. While being responsible is the right thing to do taking circumstances to the extreme can become ridiculous. Today government officials, miners, prospectors and environmentalist all must coexist. Constant political controversy surrounds the Mining Law of 1872. Often those who most oppose the Mining Law of 1872 do not realize almost everything they use in their daily lives must be mined if it can't be grown.

Many today kneel down to street-wise religion as greed has been crowned the new king and take advantage of others by claiming huge tracts of land and then reselling them to unwary people who don't realize that the claims they are buying are almost devoid of any economic type of possible mineral extraction. Often these sales of mining claims are advertised along a very narrow and thin line that the mineral rights granted to the claimant by the 1872 law are real property. While the mineral rights are real property the ownership of land on unpatented mining claims remains in the hands of the federal government or other governing agency. Those who operate in this business state it is a legitimate business. I am taking a neutral stance and saying business is business and let the buyer beware. As always a fool and his money are soon parted regardless of loopholes in the law.

Many today wish that royalties be imposed on holders of mining claims and that the cost of a claim is far too low for the mineral potential. This statement is utterly ridiculous. It always seems someone wants a piece of the pie even though they have no idea of where to find the minerals, how to extract the minerals or what to do once the minerals are extracted. Its an easy equation, follow the money. One thing we can be sure of is the 1872 Mining Law will remain a constant positive and negative for miners and prospectors in the U.S. You can read the text of the 1872 Mining law here.