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secure mineral surveys. Further, beginning in 1991, petitioner
caused various claims to be surveyed with the objective of
patenting those claims. On January 20, 1994, petitioner applied
for a mineral patent for some of his claims.12 To date, however,
petitioner has not received any patents with respect to his
claims.
D. Tinnell Prospect
In 1992 and early 1993, petitioner explored and prospected
an area known as the Tinnell Prospect, consisting of a group of
claims in the northwest corner of petitioner’s claim block.
Horizon Securities, a securities firm that does private
placements for young companies, sent a geologist, Michael
Cruson,13 to perform a geologic evaluation of the area. Mr.
Cruson prepared a report, dated January 15, 1993, and made three
recommendations: (1) No further work is justified on the claims
covered by the Tinnell Prospect; (2) any future work in the area
12Petitioner claimed that since 1994 there was a moratorium
on the issuance of mineral patents from the BLM. Apparently,
petitioner missed the deadline to apply for a mineral patent by 1
day, and his application was returned to him.
13Michael Cruson has a geological engineering degree and a
Ph.D. in geology from the Colorado School of Mines. Mr. Cruson
has been engaged in the business of geological engineering since
1973. Mr. Cruson’s clients include major oil companies in the
United States; i.e., Phelps Dodge, Texaco, Chevron, Exxon; and
major mining companies in the United States; i.e., Kenicott,
Mobil, Newmont, and Cypress AMAX. At the time of trial, Mr.
Cruson was conducting a feasability study on the Sarmish gold
deposit site in Pakistan that was discovered in the early 1970's.
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