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Show without assurance of development rights will not have the incentive to finance such surveys. However, it would be feasible to contract for services of this kind to be performed under close supervision of the management agency. Modification of Existing System Recommendation 47: Existing Federal systems for exploration, development, and production of mineral resources on the public lands should be modified. There are three distinctly different existing policy systems providing for the exploration, development, and production of minerals on the public lands. The first came into being under regulations established by miners in the western mining districts before any Federal law had been enacted. These rules were subsequently embodied in the General Mining Law of 1872.2 Under the General Mining Law locators are able to initiate rights to public land mineral deposits merely by discovery and without prior administrative approval if the lands have not been closed to mineral location by withdrawal, reservation, or segregation. Where the deposits are valuable, the locator may acquire legal title to the land within his claim or claims through issuance of a Federal deed known as a "patent" upon payment of a nominal sum. Even without a patent a locator may produce minerals without any payment in the form of a royalty or otherwise. This system generally applies to the metallic or hardrock minerals. The second system as it exists today was established in 1920 when specific minerals were removed from the General Mining Law's coverage and placed under a leasing system.3 Leasing acts generally require annual rentals until production and the payment of royalties thereafter. Nearly all public lands may be leased for those minerals coming under a leasing system, but the responsible administrators have complete discretion to accept or reject offers to lease, and large areas have been closed to leasing. Noncompetitive oil and gas leases and prospecting permits for other leasable minerals are available on a first-come, first-served basis, except in certain situations in which oil and gas leases are awarded in a drawing procedure. Competitive oil and gas leasing only applies where the area is within the known geologic structure of a producing oil or gas field. With respect to other leasable minerals, workable deposits are leased on a competitive-bid basis. Furthermore, operations under a mineral leasing system are subject to detailed regu- 2 Ibid. 3 The reference is to the Mineral Leasing Act, 30 U.S.C. §§ 181 etseq. (1964). 124 lation over all operations of the lessees. The third system, the materials disposal system, came into being in recent years to provide for the sale of specific common commodities. This system is authorized in the Materials Act4 and involves a rather simple procedure in making available common materials (such as sand and gravel) at a market price usually determined by competitive bidding. Under the leasing systems and the Materials Act, administrative permits are required prior to any exploration activity. Some of these systems are applicable to some lands and not to others. For example, the General Mining Law is not applicable to acquired land or public domain land in 5 midwestern states.5 We believe that Federal mineral legislation, if our recommendations are adopted, should be equally applicable to all federally owned land where the type of mineral activity involved is permitted by law. The Location-Patent System The General Mining Law of 18726 has been abused, but even without that abuse, it has many deficiencies. Individuals whose primary interest is not in mineral development and production have attempted, under the quise of that law, to obtain use of public lands for various other purposes. The 1872 law offers no means by which the Government can effectively control environmental impacts. Other deficiencies include the fact that claims long since dormant remain as clouds-on-title, and land managers do not know where claims are located. For all of these reasons, some have advocated the replacement of the existing system by leasing, the only other system now in effect for the exploration, development, and production of major minerals. In addition to the general deficiencies of the Mining Law, there are other weaknesses from the standpoint of the using industry in that there is (1) no certainty of tenure before meeting the qualifications for a discovery of a deposit, even though large expenditures are involved in exploration and development before the discovery can be proved; (2) no certainty at this time as to what constitutes a discovery; and (3) inadequate provision for the acquisition of land for related purposes such as locating a mill. For these reasons, and because operators believe they must continue to obtain title to mineral deposits even if not the surface of the land, the industry generally prefers amending rather than replacing the 1872 Mining Law. We see merit in both of the positions-maintenance of the location-patent system and a leasing 4 30 U.S.C. §§ 601-603. (1964). 5 Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. c n. 1, supra. |