COURT UPHOLDS IBLA DECISION REGARDING APPLICATION OF THE 'GROUP CLAIM' RULE

摘要

A recent court decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia addresses various discovery issues under the Mining Law of 1872. In Ernest K. Lehmann & Assocs. v. Salazar, 602 F. Supp. 2d 146 (D.D.C. 2009), the court upheld an IBLA decision ruling that six of the appellants' mining claims were void for lack of a discovery of valuable minerals under the mining law. The underlying IBLA decision, United States v. E.K. Lehmann & Assocs., 161 IBLA 40, GFS(MIN) 12 (2004), was summarized in Vol. XXI, No. 3 (2004) of this Newsletter.