Patented public land in Colorado
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In Colorado the hardrock mining industry has acquired the title to an estimated 1,233,635 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 Colorado |
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• Acres of federal land, previously public, titled the mining industry: 1,233,635 • Companies and individuals granted patents, total: 25,911 • Dollars paid for each acre: $2.50 or $5 • Land area given away since 1990: 301 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 Colorado Ranked by Acres Patented
Companies have been consolidated to account for subsidiaries. View this table without consolidation.
| Company/Individual | Headquarters | Number of Patents | Estimated Acreage | Patent Date(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weber Oil Company | unknown | 9 | 21,120 | 1955 to 1959 |
| 2 | Union Oil Company of California | Sugar Land, TX | 2 | 18,125 | 1986 |
| 3 | John W Savage | Rifle, CO | 15 | 17,000 | 1986 to 1987 |
| 4 | Joseph L Fox (Trustee) | Lakewood, CO | 13 | 16,922 | 1986 |
| 5 | Energy Res Tech Land | Denver, CO | 6 | 11,012 | 1986 |
| 6 | Donald M Lesher Trust | Rifle, CO | 8 | 10,752 | 1986 |
| 7 | Ertl Theo Trustee | Boulder, CO | 8 | 10,752 | 1986 |
| 8 | Lorraine E Gregg | Rifle, CO | 8 | 10,752 | 1986 |
| 9 | Shale Oil Syndicate Inc | unknown | 13 | 10,460 | 1930 to 1945 |
| 10 | Delos D Potter | unknown | 43 | 10,067 | 1910 to 1957 |
| See all patent purchasers in Colorado | |||||
Counties in Colorado Ranked by Acres Patented
| County | Number of Patents | Estimated Acreage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garfield County | 309 | 158,639 | details | map |
| 2 | Teller County | 2,979 | 118,690 | details | map |
| 3 | Clear Creek County | 3,289 | 111,923 | details | map |
| 4 | Lake County | 2,033 | 97,571 | details | map |
| 5 | Boulder County | 1,938 | 70,487 | details | map |
| 6 | Summit County | 1,438 | 67,981 | details | map |
| 7 | Rio Blanco County | 134 | 64,675 | details | map |
| 8 | Gilpin County | 1,759 | 63,903 | details | map |
| 9 | San Juan County | 1,642 | 62,472 | details | map |
| 10 | Gunnison County | 1,199 | 58,319 | details | map |
| See all counties | |||||
Examples of Mines in Colorado
| Name of Mine | Location of Mine | Mine Status | Metal Mined | Owner or Parent Company of Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summitville | Rio Grande County, CO | Closed | Gold | Galactic Resources |
| Cripple Creek & Victor Mine | Teller County, CO | Open | Gold | Anglo American |
| Henderson | Clear Creek County, CO | Open | Molybdenum | Phelps Dodge |
Source: EWG analysis.
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.