Humboldt Placer Mining Company, a Corporation, and Del De Rosier v. Secretary of the Department of the Interior of the United States of America

At issue are appellants’ rights to compensation for the seizure by the United States of appellants’ interests in certain unpatented placer mining claims, located on Stuart’s Fork of the Trinity River in Trinity County, California. On June 27, 1957, the United States commenced a condemnation action in the District Court for the Northern District of California to secure title to these claims and other property for use in connection with the construction of Trinity Dam and Reservoir. Later, on March 17, 1960, the Secretary of the Interior commenced administrative proceedings to contest the validity of the claims. The jurisdictional propriety of these proceedings was challenged but ultimately upheld. Best v. Humboldt Mining Co., 371 U.S. 334 , 83 S.Ct. 379 , 9 L.Ed.2d 350 (1963). In this action appellants seek judicial review of those proceedings.

Appellants’ claims were all located more than fifty years ago, but applications for patents were not made until 1954. The discovery originally claimed was of gold, assertedly embedded in the gravel of what is known as the Weaverville Formation on Stuart’s Fork. The appellants’ claims are northeast of the LaGrange mine, which is on the same…