Free and Open: The 1872 Mining Law · Episode 2 of 10 · 24 min
Five Dollars an Acre: What a Miner Gets and What a Miner Pays
A company can mine a billion dollars of gold, copper, or lithium from federal land and owe the United States no production royalty. The episode walks through staking a claim, proving a discovery, paying the annual fee, and the frozen right to buy land for $2.50 to $5.00 an acre, which in 1994 handed Barrick roughly 1,800 Nevada acres.
Who's who
- Bruce Babbitt+2 more episodesInterior Secretary who signed the Barrick patent under court order in 1994
- Rich Haddock+3 more episodesBarrick executive who defended the system in 2025 Senate testimony
Where it happens
- Elko, Nevada+3 more episodesNear the roughly 1,800 acres patented to Barrick in 1994
- New Mexico+1 more episodeSet a record for new mining claims staked, reported in 2026
Timeline
- May 10, 1872General Mining Act sets $5.00 lode and $2.50 placer patent prices
- 1905Chrisman v. Miller sets the prudent-person test for a valid discovery
- 1920Mineral Leasing Act puts coal, oil and gas under royalty-paying leases
- 1968United States v. Coleman adds the requirement that a deposit be marketable at a profit
- May 1994Babbitt signs the Barrick Goldstrike patent for under $10,000
- October 1994Congress imposes a patent moratorium by budget rider, renewed every year since
Still debated
The Goldstrike gold was valued anywhere from about $8 billion to $10 billion. Whether a royalty would push mining overseas is argued by industry and reformers, and whether 510,000 claims signal a production wave or a paper land rush is open.
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