1872 Mining Law

Bingham Canyon mine, Utah. The largest open-pit mine in North America.

A Law Passed to Settle the West
The 1872 Mining Law was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant. Before Custer's Last Stand, it was passed to promote the development and settlement of publicly-owned lands in the western United States.

Taxpayer Ripoffs
The Mining Law promotes development by allowing mining interests to --

• take valuable hardrock minerals including gold, silver, and uranium from public lands without royalty payment to the taxpayer -- unlike other mining industries that extract coal, oil or natural gas;
• buy valuable mineral bearing public lands for no more than $5 per acre -- 1872 prices.

Environmental Impacts
19th century America wasn't concerned with environmental protection. So the mining law doesn't contain environmental protection provisions. Communities and environments have paid the price.

One result: hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines. According to EARTHWORKS estimates, it will cost taxpayers between $32-72 billion to clean up these mines. And taxpayers are potentially liable for billions more in cleanup costs at currently operating mines.

Another result: according to the Environmental Protection Agency, 40% of the headwaters of western U.S. watersheds have been polluted by mining.

Mining Trumps All Other Land Uses
The Mining Law has been historically interpreted to trump all other potential uses of public lands. If you hold a mining claim, that claim is treated as a right-to-mine by the federal government. The federal government is on record as saying that they cannot say no to mining proposals.

Even if those proposals threaten some of America's most special places. Even if those proposals pollute clean water.

The Need for Reform
It's the 21st century. The western U.S. is developed. And settled. Now we need to take care of the people (and communities) that settled there.

Golden Sunlight mine, Montana.

The Way Forward
EARTHWORKS is working to reform this archaic law to better protect taxpayers, communities and the environment. We work with federal, state and local government, the mining industry, and impacted communities.

Representatives Nick Rahall (D-WV), Christopher Shays (R-CT), and Jay Inslee (D-WA) are introducing a bill to reform the 1872 Mining Law. The bill includes fiscal reform, environmental protection provisions, recognition of other land resource values besides mining, and a program to clean up abandoned mines.

For More Information

• Learn more about the nuts and bolts of the 1872 Mining Law.
• Read more about the need for reform of the Mining Law, including environmental impacts, threats to special places, taxpayer ripoffs, and its abandoned mine legacy.
• Learn more about the way forward to reform, including essential principles for reform, and Representative Rahall's mining reform legislation.
• Read an excellent, comprehensive discussion of the 1872 Mining Law and its impacts by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.