Utah Code 17-41-501. Vested mining use — Conclusive presumption

(1)

Terms Used In Utah Code 17-41-501

Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Land: includes :Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Mine operator: means a natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, fiduciary, agent, or other organization or representative, either public or private, including a successor, assign, affiliate, subsidiary, and related parent company, that, as of January 1, 2019:

(a)	owns, controls, or manages a mining use under a large mine permit issued by the division or the board; and

(b)

has produced commercial quantities of a mineral deposit from the mining use. See Utah Code 17-41-101

Mining protection area: means land where a vested mining use occurs, including each surface or subsurface land or mineral estate that a mine operator with a vested mining use owns or controls. See Utah Code 17-41-101

Political subdivision: means a county, city, town, school district, special district, or special service district. See Utah Code 17-41-101

Vested mining use: means a mining use:

(a)	by a mine operator; and

(b)	that existed or was conducted or otherwise engaged in before a political subdivision prohibits, restricts, or otherwise limits a mining use. See Utah Code 17-41-101
(a)	A mining use is conclusively presumed to be a vested mining use if the mining use existed or was conducted or otherwise engaged in before a political subdivision prohibits, restricts, or otherwise limits the mining use.

(b)	Anyone claiming that a vested mining use has not been established has the burden of proof to show by clear and convincing evidence that the vested mining use has not been established.

(2)

A vested mining use:

(a)	runs with the land; and

(b)	may be changed to another mining use without losing its status as a vested mining use.

(3)

The present or future boundary described in the large mine permit of a mine operator with a vested mining use does not limit:

(a)	the scope of the mine operator’s rights under this chapter; or

(b)	the protection that this chapter provides for a mining protection area.

(4)

(a)	A mine operator with a vested mining use shall file a declaration for recording in the office of the recorder of the county in which the vested mining use is located.

(b)

A declaration under Subsection (4)(a) shall:

(i)	contain a legal description of the land included within the vested mining use; and

(ii)	provide notice of the vested mining use.

Enacted by Chapter 376, 2009 General Session

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