Bisbee daily review., 1916-04-30
OF MINES DETAILED IN
 ARTICLE
The Law Of The Apex And Other Kindred Statutes Is Subject Of Interesting Arti- cle In Mining Magazine
By Franklin. Wheaton Smith In Mining and Scientific Press

INTRODUCTlON. Although the Law of the Apex from the miners point of view, has not exactly brought
 death into the world and all our woe"
 it has for many years been anathema
 to the majority of miEing engineers and managers. It has cost mining in-
 vestors a pretty penny in funds rais-
 ed or dividends withheld to meet the expense of litigation. It has resulted 1 in the suspension of work for years
 at time in not few good mines. Ii has caused the paralysis of district The law of the Apex. The national mining law is still the inadequate patchwork of 1872. Most of the act is commonplace enough. It prescriOes
 what shall be a valid location. now the ground must be marked, held. and how title in fee simple may be ac- quired. The maximum size of al claim is 1900 by 6oO feet. The end lines must be parallel. They are as sumed to be approximately at right
 angles. and the side-lines approximate ly parallel with the vein. It is the ordinary furniture of an ordinary house. But in the middle of the first room is placed Pandora's box. Its mischief-breeding content is this: 'The lectors shall have the eX- elusive right of possession and enjoy ment of all surface included within the lines of their location and of all veins, lodes. and lodges, throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies inside of such surface lines extending downward vertically, o1. 1..lr may so far depart from a perpendicu- 1 lar in their course downward as to ey- tend outside the vertical side-lines of said surface locations
 This right to follow the vein down 1 its slope or dip to any depth. into ground owned by others is called | 'extralaterial right No miner may follow his vein horizontally beyond vertical planes projected through his 1 end-ines. If veins were simple con tinuous sheets of ore between definite | walls of rock it would be possible to | start at their upper edge or Outcrop l and follow them to any depth. Few are of that type; many of our largest mines are exploiting orebodies that do not resemble even remotely the 1
 
 the ideal form most nearly, but the ! task of following such vein from the surface to great depth is often i difficult. Orebodies are not continu- i ous. but are lenses within the vein | Assure. Around their edges the vein ! may be barren quartz or merely | crushed wall-rock In one vein, be- tween two ore-shoots, each a quartz ! body several hundred feet long and 1 ten feet thick. the vein was represent | ed by tissue only an inch wide. ! When there are several veins in system it is easy to go astray. Inter- | sections often take such form that the ! apex may belong to either branch. | Under the mining laws of Mexico. for example or Canada, no trouble could 1 follow. Vertical plans through all boundaries limit mining rights in those countries. But under out mud ! dle-headed statute the question of ownership would probably be decided by an expensive lawsuit. Perhaps the winner would take over the en- tire property of the loser in settlement ! of claims.
 The variety of puZzling litigation breeding problems that can arise IS endless. After 43 years of experience with that statute new phases of the question still appear. Few large min ing camps have escaped apex litiga- | tion between leading companies. Dis cord between strong interests in a small community may breed many evils, even may poison the political life of an entire state.
 History of the Law. The act Of 1872 is defective in other ways. but the Law of the Apex has generated most of the negative blessings that have been invoked on it's framers. The history of its origin tells tale of the results of depending on the Anglo-Saxon genius for muddling through somehow. The Act applies to no State east of the Mississippi. nor to Minnesota. Mis- souri. Kansas and Teyas. IL was eX- tended to Alaska in 1884
 The mining industry of the Far West was born in California. Gold was discovered in 1s4S. two weeks be- fore the treaty of Cuadalune Hidaleo transferred to the United States more l than half million square r'iles of territory. the sDoils of the Mexican war. The military governor Of Cali fornia proclaimed the repeal Of the Mexican mining laws. but offered no
 code in their stead multitude of
 eold-seekerS swa-rned into the now , land and took the whole West for l their field At first placer mining absorbed attention. Gold bearing
 (Continued on Page Two)