Property case shows mining power in 1875 Nevada

An attempt by a Canada-based mining company to use eminent domain to obtain Elko-area ranch land is dividing northern Nevada miners and ranchers, and prompting reconsideration of 19th-century mining-friendly provisions in state law. In a legal case filed in Elko County District Court, Fronteer Development Inc. seeks to compel a property owner to sell about 12.5 square miles of the Big Springs Ranch, a spread of more than 59 square miles at the eastern flank of the Pequop Mountains. The land about 30 miles southeast of Wells is currently leased to Dixie Valley Cattle for grazing. The case highlights laws dating back some 135 years that make mining a “paramount interest” to the state and gives mining companies eminent domain rights similar to governments seeking to take land for public use. The case pits the pro-mining provisions of the state’s eminent domain statutes against legal restrictions adopted in 2008 due to the People’s Initiative to Stop the Taking of Our Land. Kermitt Waters, a prominent Las Vegas lawyer who backed the PISTOL initiative, is representing owners of Big Springs Ranch, including southern Nevada businessmen Ray Koroghli...more