48 CLASSIFICATION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS. 



under whose land they originally occurred but the person from whose 

 land they were produced, and the price would be fixed by unit of 

 quantity. The fairness of this plan is obvious. 



The uncertainties as to market value of potash and other non- 

 metals except coal, oil, gas, and phosphate make the payment of 

 a sale price undesirable and the payment for the minerals as mined 

 much more advantageous to the producer. In fact, one of the 

 main arguments for the leasing as opposed to the sale system, not 

 only for potash but for coal, oil, gas, and phosphate as well, is 

 that instead of being required to advance the entire price of the land 

 at the outset, the payments are made only as the mineral is pro- 

 duced, thus enabling the operator to begin operations with a much 

 smaller initial investment. This is certainly advantageous to the 

 small operator. Moreover, under a lease law the many uncertainties 

 which enter into the fixing of sale prices would be eliminated, since 

 only the quantity produced would be paid for. 



Probably the present mineral laws are more satisfactory when 

 applied to the metals than to the other minerals. Without doubt even 

 here a lease law would effect a marked improvement on present prac- 

 tice, but if they were modified in three features the laws applicable 

 to metalliferous lands would be reasonably satisfactory to the miner 

 and to the public at large. In any event, the law of the apex should 

 be abolished, the provisions regarding discovery should be modified, 

 and the period for which a claim may be held without patenting 

 .should be limited. Regarding the first of these points there is little 

 need for argument. Mining congresses and bar associations have 

 alike recommended the repeal of the apex provision and shown con- 

 clusively the detriment which it is and has been to the mining in- 

 dustry. That it is possible to do away with it without resultant con- 

 fusion is shown by the experience of British Columbia. One point, 

 however, should not be overlooked — if the law of the apex is abol- 

 ished the width of the claim should be increased in order to assure 

 sufficient values to warrant the opening of a mine. 



The requirement that mineral shall be discovered as a prerequisite 

 to location is one that works undue hardship to those exploiting deep- 

 seated deposits that do not crop out at the surface, such as those 

 included in the mineral-land withdrawal in Arizona. Such deposits 

 are by no means rare in certain mining districts of the West, and 

 the law should be so modified as to provide either for some ade- 

 quately safeguarded substitute for discovery or for the protection 

 of the miner during the long and expensive prospecting which he 

 must carry on before minerals can be discovered. Such protection 

 would be best afforded by a provision for a prospecting permit of 

 limited duration, to be granted only if the geologic conditions are at 

 least moderately favorable for the occurrence of the mineral sought. 



