Leo-Rhea, which owns the vast majority of the mining claims at stake, is the company created by the descendants of Andrew Hurley, an Irish immigrant who became one of the great names in Park City mining in the 1800s. The Hurley family has, over the years, owned hundreds of mining claims in Park City, and it has maintained its claim on the BLM parcels, called the Fir Claim, since 1929.

The family did not want to comment on Bishop's legislation because of the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations, said David Nilsson, son of Patrick Hurley, who worked in the Park City mines before becoming a pharmacist in California.

There are two factors working against claimants ever exercising their rights. With silver trading at much less than $10 an ounce, it simply isn't economical to mine at this time.

And the BLM has a moratorium on "patents" — the legal mechanism under the Mining Act that transfers surface title to mining claim holders to harvest the below-ground minerals.

Bishop's legislation would make an exception in this particular case. "It makes it possible to compensate those with historic claims," Harding said.

And while the Bishop legislation might not follow the exact protocol for appraisals and sales, the situation, all agree, is truly unique.

"Name another place owned by the BLM in the middle of a city that has unpatented mining claims," Harding said. "I don't know of any."

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E-mail: spang@desnews.com