THE PRINCIPLES OF MINING LAW.
Mining Law and Mining Regulations.-For the purposes of this volume, the term Mining Law will be taken to mean those enactments or established usages which, in the various countries of the globe, regulate the acquisition and tenure of mining rights and mining ground, in contradistinction to Mining Regulations, which control the methods of working a mine.
Classification.—An analysis of the mining laws of the world shows a grouping, generally, of the principles of their construction under two great primary heads or classes: (1) That under which the State or a private owner of mining property has the right to grant concessions or leases of such mining property to individuals or corporations at discretion, or under certain general restrictions. This system, by which the right to grant lies with the owner, we will call the "Concession" system. (2) That system under which any individual, under certain specified restrictions, generally as to nationality and colour, has the right to locate on discovery or otherwise certain limited areas of ground, and under certain conditions to hold, work, or dispose of the same. This system, under which the right to claim mining ground lies with the discoverer, we will designate the "Claim" system.
The Concession system of mining law had its origin in ancient days in the rights of kings and feudatory lords to the mineral products of the ground and to the disposal of them, and it prevails at present under a more or less constitutionally modified form under all the ancient civilisations of the world. Public attention in regard to mining has of late years been so much centred on the newer countries, the United States of America,