Comstock Mining of Virginia City has added 24 acres of what was BLM land to its Storey County holdings.
After a multi-year process and negotiations, the Bureau of Land Management has now formally conveyed ownership of the property known as Lot 51 to Northern Comstock, LLC.
Company President Corrado De Gasperis said Lot 51 was established and pantented during the heyday of the Comstock mining boom.
“The BLM’s action legally recognizes Lot 51 as private property,” he said. “This marks the successful completion of a multi-year process to acquire this land from the BLM.”
The property will enable the mining company to use an expanded and more efficient haul from the Lucerne Mine.
“Working effectively with BLM, we were able to turn an obstacle into an opportunity for expansion that positively impacts the entire Comstock District,” he said. “It’s another brick in an increasingly larger foundation.”
Patented lots have been a thorny issue on the Comstock for 100 years. Until BLM is willing to release some of those properties, the people who, in many cases, have businesses or homes on those lots don’t actually own the land.