MacDonald

This case is now before this Court on motions for summary judgment made by each of the parties (Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 56, 28 U.S.C.A.).

There is no dispute as to the facts of this case. These facts are as follows:

I.

Plaintiff, Frank MacDonald, is the executor of the estate of Mary Cameron, deceased. This estate is the owner of five mining claims, which were located upon the public lands of the United States prior to an order of the Federal Power Commission in 1927, which withdrew the area in which they are located for power purposes (See: Title 16 U.S. G.A. § 791a et seq.). Each of these claims contains a valuable deposit of gold-bearing gravel. It has been estimated that there is from sixty to eighty million dollars worth of gold in the claims. Plaintiff has diligently worked the claims, and approximately $150,000 has been expended in prospecting and developing them by plaintiff’s lessee since 1956.

This action has arisen because of the discord between the parties relative to the interpretation of the “Mining Claims Rights Restoration Act of 1955” ( 69 Stat. 681 -683, now codified as Chapter 16, Title 30, U.S.C.A.). Hereafter in this memorandum this…