2. confirmation of mining method and general mining plan ( see selection criteria, section 3.7 ) 3.

Arrangement of financing, based on confirmed cost setimates from the feasibility report 4. Acquistion of land, including mineral right and surface, as needed 5. Filing of environmental impact statement, obtaining of mining permit ( including reclamation plan, if a surface mining ), and posting of bonds subject to both federal and state statutes, as applicable 6. Provision of surface access, tramsportation, communication, and power supply to the mine site 7. planning and construction of surface plant, including all support and service facilities and administrative office 8. erection of mineral processing plant, if required, and ore-handing and shipment facilities, and provision of stockpiling and waste disposal facilities 9. selection of mining equipment for development and exploitation, with acquisition as needed 10. construction of mining access opening to ore body and such secondary openings as requiredincluding, in surface mining, advanced stripping. And, in underground mining, shafts and certain other sub-surface facilities 11. recruitment and training of labor force and provision of support services ( housing, transportation, consumer stores, etc ), as necessary, with attention to other social political economic need of employees Several step in development may proceed nearly simultaneously (e.g. , step 3, 4 and 5 in one effort, and 6, 7, 7, and 10 in another ) ; other may be added to the list (e.g., negotiation of shipping and sales agreements ) ; and some may be omitted (e.g., land acquisition, if carried out during exploration ). An overall planning model appears in figure 3.2 ; it utilizes three levels of study ( conceptual, engineering, and detailed design ), as explained in section 3.6. to ensure proper coordination and timely completion of all development dealt with in section 3.4. elaboration on several key steps follows.

3.3 DEVELOPMENT : LAND ACQUISITION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Land acquisition for mining Acquiring rights in the united states to land and minerals is a development task faced by every mining company, one that is constrained by government

Regulation on mining an real estate transactions. The two ( land and mineral rights ) are separable here and often abroad. If they were not acquired during stage 1 or 2 ( prospecting exploration permits are sometimes obtained separately ), then titles, permits, and / or leases must be arranged before actual development commences. The classic yet current example given of the complexities of mineral ownership is the case of a third party, a natural gas company, discovering coalbed methane on a tract of land where the surface rights are owned by one party and leased to a second ( a mining company ) that has purchased the coal right ( farnell, 1981 ). Question : (1) who owns the coalbed methane? (2) is its production governed by the states regulatory body on natural gas? Or mining? (3) can coalbed methane be severed from the coal as a mineral right? (4) who pay royalties to whom? Resolution of the legal issues is still pending in the courts, both at the state and federal levels. Mining law in the united states pertaining to mineral ownership, leasing, and surface right is a branch of the law of real property ( parr and Ely, 1973 ). The applicable federal statutes are found in the mining law of 1872 ( ownership) and subsequent legislation ( leasing ), as outlined in section 1.8. While too lengthy and involved to be more than summarized here, provisions of these acts are contained and analyzed in publications of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation ( Anon., 1967a ) and the U.S.Bureau of Mines ( Ely 1970 ). While statutes, federal and state, apply to mineral right on government lands, local ordinances and private contractural arrangements usually govern mineral transaction on private lands. Thus four distinctions in acquiring legal right to minerals are recognized ( Parr and Ely, 1973 ). 1. Ownership of public land. The federal government controls, wholly or partially, 38% of the land in the United States, known as the public domain. The portion of federal lands on which mineral right may be claimed is administered mainly by the Bureau of Land Management ( BLM ) and termed locatable lands ; excluded are national parks, wilderness areas, Indian tribal lands, and military reservations. Nearly all locatable lands lie in the western states. The federal law permitting acquisition is applicable mainly to metallic mineral ; fuels and most nonmetallic are excluded. Following discovery and minimal development, a claim may be patented for a nominal fee. Pateinting conveys title to discoverer, who is then free to commence mining operations. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly difficult to acquire mineral rights in this manner because little promising, locatable land remains. 2. Leasing of public land. Mining rights may be leased for coal, petroleum and natural gas, uranium, and most nonmetallic minerals occurring on federal and many state lands. Payment of a bond and royalties ( varying from 5% to 15% of gross value ) is required. 3. Ownership of private land. Formerly common, outright purchase of surface rights is less frequently practiced today. Reasons are the escalating cost of real estate and the huge capital outlay required for amining operation of even nominal size. Ownership of mineral rights is still customary in metal mining but is on the decrease in coal and nonmetal mining. Purchase costs are widely variable for metallic ore deposits, can range from $1.00 to $8.00 / ton ( $1.10 to $9.00/tone ) or about 20% of the selling price for coal, and may be only a few cents per ton for sand and gravel ( Bourne, 1983 )

4. Leasing of private land. Transactions to acquire mineral rights by mining companies today increasingly involve leases ( or lease with option to purchase ). On private lands, royalties usually vary from 4 10% of gross value for coal and nonmetallic to 8 12% for metallics ( Bourne, 1983 ). Roy cost, and investment climate. Both purchase and leasing agreements often involve deferred payments or options or are made contingent on future production, desirable features for the mining company. Arrangements that permit multiple use of land -----surface and subsurface----- are becoming increasingly common in the united states ( Banfield, 1973 ; Parr and Ely, 1973 ). Mining in the future may have to share or preserve surface rights for agricultural or recreational use. In some areas, different mineral deposits occur in the same stratigraphic column. For legal requirements of shared use on federal land, refer to the Multiple Surface Use Act.

Environmental Protection During Mining Complaying with the multitudinous federal and state statutes designed to prevent environmental harm during mining has become the major non production related task of mine development ( section 1.7 ) ( Down and Stocks, 1977 ; Pachter, 1985 ). Nor does it begin or nor end there ; compliance with environmental quality legislation principally dealing with air, water, land, and waste starts during exploration and continues through the postexploitation stage of mining, with special emphasis on reclamation of the land surface in surface mining. Requirements for environmental compliance are specified in the laws ; discussions and summaries are plentiful in the literature, among the most helpful being ines by Brooks and Williams ( 1973 ) for surface mining, Parr ( 1982 ) for underground mining, and Dempsey ( 1975 ) on general compliance. The procedure of demonstrating intended compliance with environmental regulations in obtaining authorization to mine is termed permitting. The greatest impact of all the environmental statutes in the United States today is contained in the briefest legislation, the National Environmental Policy Act ( NEPA ) of 1969. Every mine planner has occasion to refer to it, because NEPA requires the advance preparation of an environmental impact