Who owns the west?

Patented public land in California

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In California the hardrock mining industry has acquired the title to an estimated 625,804 acres of land previously owned by the public and rich in gold, silver, and other precious metals and minerals. Although a moratorium on new mining "patents" - conversion of public lands to private - has been in place since 1994, the government continues to grant pending requests. Since 2000, 15,600 acres of public lands across 12 western states have been converted to private ownership, for a price capped at $5 per acre in 1872. See who has gained title to lands since 1980, 1990, or 2000.

Quick facts about patented lands in California

• Acres of federal land, previously public, titled the mining industry: 625,804

• Companies and individuals granted patents, total: 8,774

• Dollars paid for each acre: $2.50 or $5

• Land area given away since 1990: 5,988 acres

• Royalties paid to federal government from mines on patented public land: $0

EWG analysis of data compiled by the Bureau of Land Management.


Top Mining Patent Purchasers in California Ranked by Acres Patented

Companies have been consolidated to account for subsidiaries. View this table without consolidation.

 Company/IndividualHeadquartersNumber of PatentsEstimated AcreagePatent Date(s)
1 Rio Tinto Limited World HQ in Australia 72 7,007 1905 to 1964
2 Frazier Borate Mining Co unknown 1 3,040 1904
3 Henry Clay Mining Co unknown 2 2,992 1887
4 California Trona Co unknown 4 2,780 1918 to 1920
5 Avawatz Salt & Gypsum Co unknown 13 2,518 1930 to 1934
6 Iron Chief Mining Co unknown 24 2,471 1914 to 1918
7 Fred Beaudry unknown 21 2,418 1899 to 1906
8 George A Sanborn unknown 2 2,339 1908 to 1914
9 Dry Creek Tunnel and Fluming unknown 2 2,153 1875 to 1880
10 James L Gould unknown 4 2,150 1874 to 1893
See all patent purchasers in California

 

Counties in California Ranked by Acres Patented

 CountyNumber of PatentsEstimated Acreage  
1Nevada County73757,526detailsmap
2Calaveras County74448,215detailsmap
3San Bernardino County51447,778detailsmap
4El Dorado County58942,931detailsmap
5Kern County45041,780detailsmap
6Placer County38338,992detailsmap
7Inyo County31733,962detailsmap
8Plumas County27833,724detailsmap
9Butte County29930,497detailsmap
10Siskiyou County36230,303detailsmap
See all counties

 

Examples of Mines in California

Name of MineLocation of MineMine StatusMetal MinedOwner or Parent Company of Owner
Mt. Pass Mine & MillSan Bernardino County, CAOpenRare earthsMolycorp
Mesquite Gold MineImperial County, CAOpenGoldNewmont Mining Corp
JamestownStanislaus County, CAClosedGoldSonora Mining Corporation
Briggs Gold MineInyo County, CAOpenGoldCanyon Resources Corporation
Mclaughlin Gold MineLake County, CAClosedGoldBarrick Gold Corporation
Dredge 21Yuba County, CASuspendedGoldCal-sierra Development, Inc
Rand MineSan Bernardino County, CAOpenGoldGlamis Gold Ltd
Sixteen To One MineSierra County, CAOpenGoldOriginal Sixteen To One Mine
PicachoImperial County, CAClosedGoldGlamis Gold Ltd.
Castle Mountain MineSan Bernardino County, CAClosedGoldViceroy Resource Corporation

Source: EWG analysis.

 

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Source: EWG analysis of Bureau of Land Management's Land and Mineral Records 2000 (LR2000) data system. For claims, acreages are estimated based on maximum allowable size of claims. For patents, acreages are taken directly from the LR2000 database where available, and are estimated based on maximum allowable size of claim that preceded the patent where acreages are not noted in LR2000. All notices are assumed to be five acres in size, and the size of plans are calculated directly as the size of the land represented by the legal land description in the LR2000 database. The acreages we estimate through these methods would tend to overestimate the actual amount. We welcome corrections here, and would welcome a federal data management system that included the acreages involved in these important federal land transactions.