A mine operator may abandon some or all of a vested mining use only as provided in this section.
Terms Used In Utah Code 17-41-503
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
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
(2)
To abandon some or all of a vested mining use, a mine operator shall record a written declaration of abandonment with the recorder of the county in which the vested mining use being abandoned is located.
(3)
The written declaration of abandonment under Subsection (2) shall specify the vested mining use or the portion of the vested mining use being abandoned.
