Tolman

*137 MEMORANDUM **

Del Webb Conservation Holding Corporation (Del Webb), an Arizona corporation, filed suit against several individuals (Black Mountain Claimants) in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada to quiet title to lands acquired through an exchange with the Bureau of Land Management. In the exchange, Del Webb took land subject to the Black Mountain Claimants’ claims embracing the same area. Del Webb moved for summary judgment on the basis that the unpatented Black Mountain Claimants’ claims were invalid because there had been no discovery of valuable minerals thereon. The court denied the motion without prejudice so that the defendants could engage in additional discovery. After the time for additional discovery had passed, Del Webb re-filed its motion for summary judgment, which the district court granted. The district court’s opinion issued on January 30, 2001, stated:

We agree. Del Webb met its burden by reviewing the Black Mountain Claimants’ samples and proving to the court by a preponderance of the evidence that no adequate mineral discovery had been made on the land. 1 We do not require the burden of cost of sampling and non-discovery to be…