General Mining Law of 1872: corporate welfare at its worst
NYT
What the Gold Mine Disaster Tells Us
The General Mining Law of 1872 is among the last surviving statutes of the boisterous era of westward expansion. Signed by Ulysses S. Grant, it establishes the basic rules for mining hard-rock minerals like gold, copper and uranium on public lands.
Useful in its day, the law is a destructive relic now. It allows mining companies to buy federal land for a few dollars an acre, demands no royalties and requires minimal environmental protections while the mine is operating and no cleanup afterward.
Its principal legacy, if it can be called that, is a battered landscape of abandoned mines and poisoned streams.
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