Opinion No.

The Honorable Neely Cassady State Senator P.O. Box 1810 Nashville, AR 71852

Dear Senator Cassady:

This is in response to your request for an opinion on several questions concerning interpretation of language contained in the Open Cut Land Reclamation Act of 1977, Act 336, and what effect that language might have on ownership of mineral rights. Your questions are restated and answered below in the order posed.

1. Section 7(e) of the Open Cut Land Reclamation Act of 1977, codified at Ark. Code Ann. 15-57-315(5), requires that mine operators engaged in open cut mining under permit may not "remove…