David Josiah Brewer

“ To take from the discoverer a portion of that which he has discovered and give it to one who may have been led to make an adjoining location by a knowledge of the discovery, and without any previsous searching for mineral, is manifest injustice. ”

“ True, in respect to mining property, this presumption of title to mineral beneath the surface may be overthrown by proof that such mineral is a part of a vein apexing in a claim belonging to some other party. But this is a matter of defense; and while proof of ownership of the spex may be proof of the ownership of the vein descending on its dip below the surface of property belonging to another, yet such ownership of the apex must first be established before any extralateral title to the vein can be recognized. ”

“ The attitude of the case is very like that of one in which a trial court refers all things to a master, who takes the testimony and reports it, with a general finding for the plaintiff or defendant, upon which report the trial court states its views of the facts and the law and enters its decree. ”

“ The discoverer and first locator took the lode in its entirety. The law contemplated its segregation in its length, not in its width. It refers to lodes between the end lines, not to a part of a lode. No expression can be found in it indicating an intention to limit the rights of the locator to a portion of the lode in its width. The discovery of any part of the apex of a vein is regarded by it as a discovery of the entire apex. ”

“ Discovery is the all-important fact upon which title to mines depends. Lindley, in his work on Mines, 2d ed. vol. 1, § 335, says:
'Discovery in all ages and all countries has been regarded as conferring rights or claims to reward. ”