Duffield

The appellants were the complainants in the court below in a suit against the appellee brought pursuant to section 2326 of the Revised Statutes (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 1430) to determine the right of the parties as respective mining claimants to certain land covered by the claims of both. The appellee’s claims are placer claims, and are prior in time to those of the appellants. On the lands occupied by the appellee’s placer claims, the appellants located lode mining claims, and the principal question on the appeal is: May the mineral deposit which is in dispute between the parties be secured by placer mining locations, or must it be secured by lode mining locations, .and preliminary to that question is the inquiry whether the trial court had jurisdiction to determine it. The mineral deposit in dispute is a zone of calcium phosphate. It lies between clearly defined walls. The overhanging wall is a cherty siliceous limestone of a bluish color, and the foot wall is a similar limestone of a *482 grayish color. Between the two lies the belt of calcium phosphate about 60 feet in width, of a dark color, with a strike northerly and southerly and a dip westerly, varying from 15 to 45…