MINES AND MINING (in Law). The law relating to mines in the United Stales has been almost wholly developed within the last fifty years. By the laws of England all mines of gold or silver, wherever found. belonged not to the owner of the land, hill to the sovereign. There is some doubt as to whether this doctrine was ever generally adopted in the United States. It was, however, midoiffitedly recognized by several East ern States immedbitely after the 1:evolution, and in New Vork a statute. still in force, expressly reserves to the State the right to mines of gold and silver. In general. however, the Government. of the Vnited States was considered to reserve all mineral rights in lands conveyed or given to citi zens. unless such rights were expressly granted. For a time the Government leased mineral lands on royalties, or fixed rents, lint. owing to the great difficulty in ascertaining and collecting the amounts due, the policy was finally abandoned, and rights to take minerals were granted out. right.
The NW was in this condition when gold was discovered in California. and thousands of per sons. 111:111S of 111(.111 without previous experienee, rushed there. and discovered and opened up mines. To avoid the frequent shedding of blood and other di-agrceable consequenees of dispnles over the extent of each other's rights, it beeame the ens. tom fro• the miners in a new district to meet and pass rules rind regulations on every subjeet relat ing to their railing. and these were enforced by committees appointed for the purpose. Suh,e (ineptly, when emirts were established in Pali• fornia, they adopted those rules and which had heroine so recomized and fixed in min ing eommuni ties to bee011le in eireet I he CO111111011 law of mines. The claims of the miners were proteeted upon the fiction that they had origi nally obtained a license from the Government, and if they followed the rules of their particular dis t•icts they were held to have a property right in their mines or claims, as they were called. These rights or claims could be conveyed, would descend to the heirs, and were ill every way treated as real property. In July, 1866, Congress passed a la w• providing that title to public mineral lands might be acquired by payint'llt of a small price or fee and by complying with certain prescribed formalities. This act was superseded by an act
in 1873 (Rev. Mat., tit. xxxii., ch. 6) which sub stantially incorporated the provisions of the for mer act, and supplemented them With others sug gested by the new development in mining law.
The act of 1873 also provided for the judicial recognition of the rules and regulations then prevalent, and such as might thereafter obtain recognition in mining districts, where they were not contrary to its own provisions or the laws of the States in which such districts were situated. One of the important provisions of the last net was to prescribe the maximum limits of claims. The extent of a lode claim, that is one where the ore runs in a well-defined vein, is fixed at 300 feet on either side of the vein by 1500 feel in length; and placer claims, that is where the ore is loosely mingled With the surface earth, are not to exceed 20 acres to one individual, or 160 acres to an association of individuals. The areas of both lode and placer claims may be changed by the statutes of the various States or by the rules of a mining district, provided they do not exceed the above fixed limits. The owner of a claim may follow a well-defined vein of mineral for 3000 feet from the opening of the shaft in any direc tion, and he may follow a Vein the general course of which is downward through its 'dips` and vari ations indefinitely.
The common-law rule that a man owns every thing beneath the surface of his land is, there fore, not followed in our modern law• relating to mines. It often happens that two lodes inter sect. and in such a case the one who tirst opened his mine is entitled to the ore at the point of intersection: but each is entitled to follow• his lode farther, and each has an easement or right to cross the tunnel of the other at that point in the proper working of his mine. Owing to the great difficulty in ascertaining whether a person is trespassing in this manner, any owner of lands who has reasonable valise to suspect that another is doing so may obtain from a court of equity an 'order of inspection' to determine whether lie is encroaching on the land of the complainant or not.