McCall

William McCall and the estate of Olaf Nelson appeal the dismissal on summary judgment of their suit seeking review of the decision of the Interior Board of Land Appeals that portions of their mining claims are invalid because not mineral in character. They contend 1) that the application of the so-called “ten-acre rule” by the Board was improper, 2) that the Board’s decision is not supported by substantial evidence, and 3) that granting summary judgment was improper because there was a dispute concerning material facts. We affirm.

In 1953, McCall and Nelson filed an application for a patent to a group of mining claims in the Las Vegas valley, asserting that the claims were valuable for mining sand and gravel. They received patents for parts of five claims, known as Las Vegas Nos. 1, 2, 7, 18 and 27. In 1964, the Interior Department filed a contest complaint alleging that the remaining portions of these claims were not mineral in character. Applying the so-called “ten-acre rule,” under which each ten acres of a claim must be shown to be mineral in character, the hearing examiner found that the challenged portions of the claims were not mineral in character and dismissed the patent…