Patented public land in South Dakota
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In South Dakota the hardrock mining industry has acquired the title to an estimated 105,533 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 South Dakota |
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• Acres of federal land, previously public, titled the mining industry: 105,533 • Companies and individuals granted patents, total: 1,588 • Dollars paid for each acre: $2.50 or $5 • Land area given away since 1990: 233 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 South Dakota 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 | Harney Peak Tin Mining Milling | unknown | 78 | 4,900 | 1888 to 1918 |
| 2 | Home Stake Mining Co | unknown | 56 | 2,850 | 1881 to 1922 |
| 3 | Thomas J Grier | unknown | 27 | 1,450 | 1895 to 1906 |
| 4 | James Callanan | unknown | 23 | 1,150 | 1890 to 1899 |
| 5 | International Minerals | unknown | 17 | 850 | 1956 to 1962 |
| 6 | James B Haggin | unknown | 17 | 850 | 1881 to 1899 |
| 7 | William Selbie | unknown | 15 | 800 | 1882 to 1900 |
| 8 | Ernest May | unknown | 16 | 800 | 1895 to 1904 |
| 9 | Deadwood & Delaware Smelting | unknown | 7 | 650 | 1892 to 1893 |
| 10 | James Milliken | unknown | 12 | 650 | 1883 to 1899 |
| See all patent purchasers in South Dakota | |||||
Counties in South Dakota Ranked by Acres Patented
| County | Number of Patents | Estimated Acreage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lawrence County | 1,373 | 74,258 | details | map |
| 2 | Pennington County | 314 | 20,385 | details | map |
| 3 | Custer County | 133 | 8,150 | details | map |
| 4 | Butte County | 15 | 1,440 | details | map |
| 5 | Fall River County | 12 | 1,000 | details | map |
| 6 | Meade County | 2 | 200 | details | map |
| 7 | Minnehaha County | 1 | 100 | details | map |
Examples of Mines in South Dakota
| Name of Mine | Location of Mine | Mine Status | Metal Mined | Owner or Parent Company of Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gilt Edge (brohm Mine) | Lawrence County, SD | Closed | Gold | Dakota Mining Company |
| The Wharf Mine | Lawrence County, SD | Open | Gold | Gold Corp. |
| Homestake Gold Mine | Lawrence County, SD | Closed | Gold | Barrick Gold Corporation |
| Golden Reward Mine | Lawrence County, SD | Closed | Gold | Wharf Resourced Ltd./dakota Mining Corp |
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.