Edwards v. Kleppe

588 F.2d 671 Adrian EDWARDS, Trustee for Ross Stegman, a real party in interest, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Thomas S. KLEPPE, Secretary of the Department of the Interior of the UnitedStates of America, Defendant-Appellant. No. 77-3315. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Oct. 26, 1978. Rehearing Denied Dec. 11, 1978. John J. Zimmerman, Atty. for Land and Natural Resources Div. (argued), Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for defendant-appellant. Stan A. Lehman (argued), Prescott, Ariz., for plaintiff-appellee. On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Before MERRILL and CHOY, Circuit Judges, and TANNER, * District Judge. MERRILL, Circuit Judge: 1 This case, another in the series coming before this court dealing with mining claims on common varieties of minerals, presents the question whether a valuable mineral discovery was made prior to July 23, 1955, the date when common varieties ceased to qualify as valuable mineral deposits under the mining laws of the United States. 30 U.S.C. § 611 . 1 2 Appellee is trustee of a trust established by Ross Stegman. In 1949 Stegman entered on the property in dispute, located in Yavapai County,…