The General Mining Law of 1872: Still Relevant Today?

The General Mining Law of 1872 remains one of the most important—and controversial—pieces of legislation governing mineral exploration in the United States. Despite being over 150 years old, it continues to shape how companies and individuals stake claims and develop hardrock minerals on federal public lands.

Historical Context

The 42nd United States Congress passed the General Mining Act in April 1872, and President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law the following month. The legislation was one of several pieces passed in the years following the Civil War, designed to combat economic depression and unemployment by opening vast federal lands in the West for development.

The law codified the informal system that had emerged during the California Gold Rush and subsequent mining booms. Early Western prospectors—such as those of the 1849 gold rush—sometimes staked claims on public lands without express consent of the federal government. Congress first addressed this with the Lode Law of 1866, permitting private lode development on public lands, followed by an 1870 extension covering placer deposits. The 1872 law consolidated and refined these earlier statutes.

Who Can Stake a Claim

Under the 1872 Mining Law, all U.S. citizens 18 years or older have the right to locate a lode (hard rock) or placer (gravel) mining claim on federal lands open to mineral entry. These claims may be located once a discovery of a locatable mineral is made. Locatable minerals include platinum, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, and tungsten, among others.

Types of Claims

Claiming federal lands for hardrock mining falls into two categories:

• Lode Claims: Deposits with well-defined boundaries, typically vein or rock formations containing valuable minerals
• Placer Claims: All other deposits, including alluvial (stream-deposited) gold and other loose mineral deposits

Each state has unique requirements for the process of marking claim boundaries (claim staking). Once a prospector stakes a claim, documentation must be filed at both the BLM field office and with the county clerk.

Fees and Requirements

The Mining Law permits U.S. citizens to claim federal land in exchange for paying recording fees and meeting annual requirements. Claimants must pay a location fee and either perform annual assessment work or pay an annual maintenance fee (currently $165 per claim as of recent years). Notably, actual mining need not occur—claimants maintain rights through proper documentation and fee payment.

The Patent System

The original mining law provided miners the opportunity to obtain patents (deeds from the government), similar to how farmers could obtain title under the Homestead Act. The owner of a patented claim receives fee simple title and can put the land to any legal use.

However, the patenting process has been perhaps the most controversial aspect of the mining law. Due to a Congress-imposed moratorium, the federal government has not accepted any new applications for mining claim patents since October 1, 1994.

Key Amendments and Related Laws

Several subsequent laws have modified the scope of the 1872 Act:

• Mineral Leasing Act of 1920: Withdrew fossil fuels and certain minerals from coverage under the Mining Law, creating a separate leasing system with royalty requirements
• Common Varieties Mineral Act of 1955: Withdrew sand, gravel, stone, and other common rocks and minerals from locatable mineral status
• Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA): Required recordation of all claims with the BLM and established the first environmental protection requirements for surface lands

BLM Administration

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the federal agency responsible for administering the Mining Law. The 1976 FLPMA amendments required all existing claims to be recorded with the BLM and mandated that all new claims and sites be recorded with the agency. This gave the BLM, for the first time, comprehensive information on the location and number of unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites across federal lands.

Modern Compliance Requirements

While the core Mining Law contains no environmental provisions, mineral exploration and development are subject to extensive state and federal environmental regulations:

• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements
• Endangered Species Act protections
• Clean Water Act regulations
• BLM and Forest Service surface management regulations
• State mining laws and reclamation requirements

Legacy and Ongoing Debates

Because reclamation was not required when the Mining Law was enacted 150 years ago, there are now over 500,000 legacy mining sites in the western United States alone. Critics argue the law is outdated and fails to account for environmental costs or fair compensation to taxpayers.

Proposed reforms have included:

• Implementing federal royalties on hardrock minerals (similar to oil and gas)
• Strengthening environmental protection and reclamation requirements
• Permanently eliminating the patent system
• Updating claim maintenance fees

Sources: Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior, Congressional Research Service, Penn State Mining Engineering program.