Legal Definitions - Open mines doctrine

In property law, the Open Mines Doctrine is a rule that allows a tenant to use up natural resources on a piece of land by mining it, even if it causes damage to the land. This is only allowed if the mines were already open when the tenant took possession of the land. The tenant cannot open any new mines on the land.

John rents a piece of land that has an open mine on it. The mine was already there when John started renting the land. John can continue to mine the land, but he cannot open any new mines. He can only use the existing mine.

Another example is if a tenant rents a piece of land that has an open oil well on it. The tenant can continue to extract oil from the well, but cannot drill any new wells on the land.

These examples illustrate the Open Mines Doctrine because they show that a tenant can use up natural resources on a piece of land, but only if the resources were already being used when the tenant took possession of the land. The tenant cannot cause new damage to the land by opening new mines or wells.