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Legal and Administrative Obstacles to Extracting Other Minerals From Oil Shale

EMD-79-65 Published: Sep 05, 1979. Publicly Released: Sep 05, 1979.
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Highlights

Federal mineral leasing laws and resultant administrative procedures frustrate multiple extraction of intermingled minerals on public lands. These valuable minerals can be acquired under one of two mining systems: (1) the General Mining Law of 1872 allows unfettered access to exploration and development of public lands valuable for minerals (locatable minerals); and (2) the Mineral Lands Leasing Act designates some of the minerals which can be mined under specified terms of a lease issued by the Secretary of the Interior (leasable minerals). Both laws assume that minerals occur in identifiable geological deposits. There were few problems as long as identifiable, or discrete, deposits were mined or little attention was paid to less valuable intermingled minerals. As more complex deposits are mined and advances in the technology of recovery increase the value of the mixed mineral deposits, it becomes more difficult to determine whether minerals should be developed under the 1872 law or the 1920 law. Statutory ambiguity plus procedural problems have prevented basic evaluation of the nonfuel potential of sodium/aluminum-rich oil shale. The Department of the Interior has formulated oil shale disposition policies which jeopardize future development of sodium/aluminum-rich oil shale.

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Topics

Land use lawMineral bearing landsMineral leasesMiningMining industryMining legislationShale oil resourcesMineralsMiningPublic lands