United States v. Coleman

In 1956 respondent Coleman applied to the Department of the Interior for a patent to certain public lands based on his entry onto and exploration of these lands and his discovery there of a variety of stone called quartzite, one of the most common of all solid materials. It was, and still is, respondent Coleman’s contention that the quartzite deposits qualify as “valuable mineral deposits” under 30 U. S. C. § 22 1 and make the land “chiefly valuable for building stone” under 30 U. S. C. § 161. 2 The Secretary of the Interior held that to qualify as “valuable mineral deposits” under 30 U. S.…