Transactions . epting only thesegments of veins the apices of which he outside of such area. Suchknown veins with such area of enclosing surface ground are, of course,at any time, so long as they remain unlocated, subject to location andappropriation in the same manner as other veins upon the publicdomain. The history of the operation of this law in one district will serve toillustrate its effect generally throughout the mining regions of the UnitedStates. In the Butte district, the mineral that first attracted the atten- * Attorney and Counsellor at Law. 458 NEW ANGLES TO THE APEX LAW tion of
Transactions . epting only thesegments of veins the apices of which he outside of such area. Suchknown veins with such area of enclosing surface ground are, of course,at any time, so long as they remain unlocated, subject to location andappropriation in the same manner as other veins upon the publicdomain. The history of the operation of this law in one district will serve toillustrate its effect generally throughout the mining regions of the UnitedStates. In the Butte district, the mineral that first attracted the atten- * Attorney and Counsellor at Law. 458 NEW ANGLES TO THE APEX LAW tion of the miner was placer gold. The beginning of quartz mining was afew years later. A few years after the discovery of mineral practicallythe whole district, embracing several square miles of territory, was cov-ered with mineral locations upon which patents were afterward speaking, the low-lying land along Silver Bow Creek and itsbranches extending part way up the slope in the direction of the Butte. Fig. 1. hill comprised the portion of the district within which the placer-miningoperations were carried on. There the surface and subsurface for severalfeet generally consisted of loose earth and gravel or boulders in which wasfound the deposit of placer gold and beneath which was the solid forma-tion or bed-rock. As to that land covering about one-half of the dis-trict, the patents issued were placer patents or patents based upon placerlocations. While the apices of the veins showed in the surface of bed-rock generally throughout the whole district, their existence in groundcovered by placer wash could not have been known until bed-rock wasexposed by the removal of the placer wash in the placer-mining operation JOHN A. SHELTON 459 or otherwise. When discovered in the early days they were not generallyconsidered worthy of development. Frequently they did not containmineral, on or near the surface, that could be profitably mined. Laterdevelopment showed that many veins
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectmineralindustries
