What 30 USC § 22 - General Mining Law of 1872 (Lands Open to Purchase by Citizens) requires
30 USC § 22 (originally enacted May 10, 1872 as Section 1 of the Mining Act, codified at Revised Statutes § 2319, with subsequent amendments) is the foundational provision of the General Mining Law of 1872 establishing that 'all valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, shall be free and open to exploration and purchase, by citizens of the United States and those who have declared their intention to become such, under regulations prescribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States'; the section grants the right of self-initiation by citizens to enter public lands, prospect for hardrock minerals, locate mining claims, and acquire title through patent or simply maintain unpatented claims; covered minerals include gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, uranium (subject to Atomic Energy Act amendments), nickel, tungsten, and other locatable hardrock minerals; oil, gas, coal, phosphate, sodium, potassium, oil shale, and gilsonite were removed by the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 USC § 181) and are now subject to leasing rather than claim location; the Mining Law of 1872 has been substantially modified by subsequent federal land management statutes but remains the operating framework for hardrock mining on federal land.
Pillar: Mining & Natural Resources · Authority: United States Congress (General Mining Act of May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 1, 17 Stat. 91; codified at Revised Statutes § 2319; current text at 30 USC § 22) · Version: 1.0.0 · Last updated:
Primary source: https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/30/22
SHA-256 integrity: b7f369951c7cfa016b540eb6df6500c3548ad9f299161dbf3d4620e3c923f4ff
Primary Citations — 5 traced to source
- 30 USC § 22 GENERAL MINING LAW FOUNDATIONAL PROVISION: 'Except as otherwise provided, all valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, shall be free and open to exploration and purchase, and the lands in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the United States and those who have declared their intention to become such, under regulations prescribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States.'
- 30 USC § 22 historical: 'R.S. § 2319 (May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 1, 17 Stat. 91)' - the original General Mining Act of 1872; the codification preserves the operative language unchanged from the original 1872 enactment despite over 150 years of subsequent federal land management evolution
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