As was seen in the last section, the right of land ownership in the minerals found beneath their land was limited by the rights of the Crown, in what was known as "Royal mines." The subject of "Royal mines" is thus discussed by a recent English writer on the subject: "According to the law of England, the only mines which are termed Royal, and which are the exclusive property of the crown, are mines of gold and silver. ... It seems formerly to have been a matter of considerable dispute as to what constituted a royal mine. By some it was considered to be a principle of the common law, that, if any gold or silver was found in metals of a baser nature, there was sufficient to bring the mine within the definition of a royal mine; while by others a mine was not to be deemed royal unless the quantity of gold or silver exceeded in value that of the other minerals with which it was mixed. The latter opinion was adopted by three of the judges, viz., Harper, Southcott and Weston, in the case of the Queen and the Earl of Northumberland, although they agree in thinking that, as the defendant in that case had confessed the production of some royal ore, he was concluded by his not having proceeded to show the relative difference of value, and that the mine must therefore be presumed to be royal. But all the other mine judges were of the opinion that the existence of any portion of gold or silver was sufficient to constitute a royal mine. Plowden himself contends that if the royal metals should bear the expenses of extraction, the whole should belong to the crown, and if otherwise, to the owners of the base metals. This decision occurred in the time of Queen Elizabeth, when the prerogative of the crown was perhaps at its greatest height, and the opinion of the nine judges 'does not appear to have gained the acquiescence of more recent lawyers." 10

6 Gamboa Com. Rockw. Transl. ch.

2, Sec. 1. 7 Vice vs. Thomas, Stan., p. 35, 2 Bl. Com., p. 18, 1 id., 294.

8 1 Wm. & Mary, ch. 30; 5 id., ch.

6, Collier Mines, p. 2. 9 Snyder on Mines, Vol. I, Sees. 6

&7.

This right of the Crown in "Royal mines" was variously assigned to the virtue of the prerogative,11 the King's right of coinage,12 and the excellence of the thing.13

10 Bainb. Mines, 1 Am. (from 3rd London ed.), ch. 2, sec. 3, pp. 24-27, citing Queen vs. Earl of Northumberland; Plowd, 336, 2 Coke, Inst., 577, 78.

11 1 Bl. Com., 294; Collier Mines, p.

1 2 Co. Inst., 577; Bainb. Mines, p. 24, McSwinney Mines, p, 26; Rockw. Span, and Mex. aw, p. 514. 12 1 Bl. Com., 294, 2 Co. Inst., 577. 13 Plowd., 31, 310. See, also Pettus