Locatable minerals include but are not limited to platinum, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, uranium and tungsten.

[8] Although the practices for open mining on public land were more-or-less universal in the West, and supported by state and territorial legislation, they were still illegal under existing federal law.

In June 1865, Representative George Washington Julian of Indiana introduced a bill for the government to take the western mines from their discoverers, and sell them at public auction.

In 1864, Congress passed a law that instructed courts deciding questions of contested mining rights to ignore federal ownership, and defer to the miners in actual possession of the ground.

[10] The following year, Congressional supporters of western miners tacked legislation legalizing lode (hardrock) mining on public land onto a law regarding ditch and canal rights in California, Oregon, and Nevada.

When Congress passed the General Mining Act of 1872, the wording was changed to "or other valuable deposits," giving greater scope to the law.

(approved July ninth, eighteen hundred and seventy) a patent shall issue for the placer-claim, including such vein or lode, upon the payment of five dollars per acre such vein or lode claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on each side thereof.

From 1872 to 1993, mining companies produced more than $230 billion from lands claimed under the Act, according to the Mineral Policy Center.

Land dedicated for specific uses such as the White House lawn, national parks, or wilderness areas, is not subject to mineral entry.

Because of a Congress-imposed moratorium, the federal government has not accepted any new applications for mining claim patents since October 1, 1994.

This provision, also known as the law of the apex led to lengthy litigation and even underground battles, especially in Butte, Montana, and the Comstock Lode.

[citation needed] On November 1, 2007, the US House passed the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 (H.R.

Seventy percent of the royalty money would have gone to a cleanup fund for past abandoned mining operations, and 30% to affected communities.

The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009 was introduced in the US Senate by Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico), but died in committee.

In addition, a reclamation tax of from 0.3% to 1%, the rate set by the secretary of the interior, would be levied on all hardrock mining operations, new and existing, on federal, state, private, and tribal lands.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar stated "There is a new administration in town, and we want to see the 1872 mining law reformed.

[40] Rep. Peter DeFazio stated "For over 140 years, the federal government has allowed mining companies to extract hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of valuable publicly owned minerals from our public lands without paying American taxpayers a single dime.

The bill would have established a maintenance fee and a 4% to 8% royalty of the gross incomes of all unpatented mining or millsite claims.

These funds would then be allocated to land and water resources that were impacted negatively by mining operations.

[40] The Hardrock Mining Reform and Reclamation Act of 2015 was introduced to the 114th Congress by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona) on February 13, 2015.

[42] The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2015 was introduced to the 114th Congress by Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) on November 5, 2015.

[43] The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2017 was introduced by Sen. Tom Udall (D-New Mexico) on September 9, 2017.