"and developed, and should receive such a construc"tion as will carry out this purpose.

991

290. The terms "lode," "vein," "ledge," legal equivalents.-The act of July 26, 1866, used the term "vein, or lode." The act of May 10, 1872, added the word "ledge," and all these terms occur in the Revised Statutes.

Of the three terms, the word "lode" is the more comprehensive. A lode may, and often does, contain more than one vein.2 Instances have been known of a broad zone, generally recognized as a lode, itself having welldefined boundaries, but being traversed by mineralized fissure veins, each possessing such individuality as to be the subject of location. A lode may or may not be a fissure vein, but a fissure vein is, in contemplation of law, a lode.

"Ledge" is more of a local term, at one time in common use in California and some parts of Nevada. It is mentioned in the act of May 10, 1872, and is incorporated into the Revised Statutes, but it is practically unrecognized in many mining localities.

Generally speaking, the terms are used interchangeably. As observed by Dr. Raymond, "lode" is an alteration of the verb "lead." In many localities the word "lead" is used as synonymous with "lode." "Lead" is also applied in California to certain subterranean auriferous gravel deposits, which, however, can be acquired only under the placer laws, according

'Eureka case, 4 Saw. 302, 311, Fed. Cas. No. 4548. See, also, Hayes v. Lavagnino, 17 Utah, 185, 53 Pac. 1029, 1033.

United States v. Iron S. M. Co., 128 U. S. 673, 9 Sup. Ct. Rep. 195. 3 Mt. Diablo M. and M. Co. v. Callison, 5 Saw. 439, Fed. Cas. No. 9886. See, also, Doe v. Waterloo M. Co., 54 Fed. 935.

Iron S. M. Co. v. Cheesman, 8 Fed. 297, 301; Cheesman v. Shreeve, 40 Fed. 787, 792; Morr. Min. Rights, 8th ed., p. 113; Hayes v. Lavagnino, 17 Utah, 185, 53 Pac. 1029, 1032.

'Gregory v. Pershbaker, 73 Cal. 109, 14 Pac. 401.

VEIN,"

to the rules established by the land department.1 The terms "lode" and "vein" are always associated in the existing mining statutes, and are invariably separated by the disjunctive. For all practical purposes, they may be considered as legal equivalents. Unless the authority cited itself makes the distinction heretofore suggested, the definitions hereafter given apply equally to both words.

290a. Definition and illustrations formulated by Mr. Ross E. Browne.-A proper conception of the difficulties encountered in framing comprehensive definitions of the terms used in the mining laws requires more or less familiarity and experience with those "brute "beasts of the intellectual domain," the facts as they are encountered in the operation and exploitation of mines. A practical knowledge of what we may term structural geology, derived from actual contact involved in the investigation and working of mines, is quite as essential as a familiarity with the law, in order to enable one to present any satisfactory illustration of the nature of the things to which the law is to be applied. Lawyers specializing on the legal phases of mining law necessarily absorb some general information from the mining engineers with whom they are brought in contact. But as a rule this familiarity with structural conditions is to a large degree superficial. The mining engineer and expert with a broad experience, not only in the field of mining operations, but in mining litigation, occupies a unique position, not only as the mentor of counsel, but as an important aid to the court in the ascertainment of the facts to which the law is to be applied. Among the engineers there is no one better qualified to speak from a practical standpoint upon the subject under considera

'Copp's Min. Dec. 78. Post, § 427.

tion than Mr. Ross E. Browne, who has had a wide experience in mining and has been connected with some of the most important mining litigation of the west. At the author's request, he has formulated certain definitions and illustrations which we here present.

"Originally the word 'vein' was narrow in its sig"nificance, defining a single clearly marked seam or "fissure-filling in the country rock. The word 'lode' was a broader term, applied not only to ore-bearing "veins in a narrow sense, but to various more compli"cated forms of ore-deposit as well.

"Under the influence of the mining acts of congress, "it has gradually become more and more customary to "use the two terms synonymously, and to give to the "word 'vein' the broad definition that would formerly "have been regarded as more properly applicable to "the word 'lode.' Still the custom is not rigid, and the miner, as a rule, continues to make certain dis"tinctions in the use of the terms. For example, when "his deposit contains separate parallel seams, or sheets, "of ore, and he regards the whole as a unit, he may call "it either a 'lode' or a 'vein,' but the separate sheets "he designates as distinct veins within the limits of "his lode. He calls the entire mass vein-matter, and "his conception is, that the word 'vein' refers either 66 to the entire mass or to narrow streaks within the mass, while the word 'lode' always refers to the entire

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mass.

"In a very general way a lode may be described as a mass of mineralized rock in place, the word 'mineral' "referring only to commercially valuable constituents. "The form is usually more or less tabular or sheet-like, "but occasionally too irregular to fit such descrip❝tion.

"Referring to ores of the more valuable metals, such as gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, lead, etc., the "lodes in which they are found are generally formed "by fissuring of the country rock and subsequent "introduction of mineralizing solutions depositing ore"bearing material in the fissures and occasionally min"eralizing portions of the wall-rocks by processes of

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VEIN,"

metamorphism and impregnation, occasionally filling pre-existing cavities, such as occur in limestone. "The lode as it commonly occurs may then be defined as the ore-bearing filling of a single fissure or of a "system of interconnected fissures and pre-existing "cavities in the country rock, together with occasional "mineralized masses of the wall-rocks.1

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"The lode material consists not only of the valuable "ores, but also of the associate gangue minerals depos"ited by the same solutions.

"There are frequently encountered fragmentary or "detached masses of unaltered country rock, wholly or "substantially surrounded by lode material,-so-called "'horses,'-which are regarded as

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belonging to the lode.

"The lateral boundaries are "formed either by the walls of the fissures or by the more irregular "limits of mineralization.2 "The following diagrams will "illustrate in vertical cross-section "the common occurrences.

FIGURE 4.

"Figure 4 represents a simple "fissure vein or lode with plane foot-wall and hanging"wall boundaries.

'AUTHOR'S NOTE.-The acts of congress are so construed as to include in the category of lodes, veins, and ledges certain deposits which would not fall under the above definition. As, for example, certain tilted beds or sedimentary strata containing ores as original constituents, and not formed by subsequent fissuring and mineralization. The geologist would call these beds, and not lodes, but we understand that the intent of the law is not to make distinctions based upon the genetic principle. It is doubtless true that a very small percentage of the ore deposits of the precious metals occur as tilted beds in place, unassociated with subsequent fissuring and mineralization; but when such are found, they are undoubtedly subject to location as veins or lodes within the meaning of the statutes.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.-The vein must have boundaries, but it is not necessary that they be seen. Their existence may be determined by assay and analysis. Beals v. Cone, 27 Colo. 473, 83 Am. St. Rep. 92, 62 Pac. 948, 953, (citing Cheesman v. Shreeve, 40 Fed. 787, Hyman v. Wheeler, 29 Fed. 347; Iron S. M. Co. v. Cheesman, 116 U. S. 529, 6 Sup. Ct. Rep. 481).

"Figure 5 represents a complex fissure-vein or lode, "still having comparatively simple boundaries. The "foot and hanging walls are more or less broken by insignificant spurs or offshoots.

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"Figure 6 is a complex lode with jagged or complex "fissure-wall boundaries.

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FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 8.

"Figure 7 is a complex lode, consisting of fissurefillings and mineralized wall-rock. The foot-boundary is a simple fissure-wall, the hanging boundary is "the somewhat indefinite limit of mineralization.

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"Figure 8 is a complex lode with both boundaries "formed only by the

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irregular limits of "mineralization.

FIGURE 9.