Part of the lands are patented ‘fee’ lands owned by the Smith family, and such lands include both the surface and minerals. The mineral rights for the balance of the property are owned by the U.S. Government under the jurisdiciton of the Department of the Interior and managed by the Bureau of Land Managment (BLM). Although the mineral rights on these non-fee lands are controlled by the U.S. Government, part of the lands are of ‘split estate,’ with private surface and the balance is designated as ‘public land’ and the surface is managed by the BLM.

Ruby Graphite has obtained approval from the BLM for a Plan of Operations to conduct the initial stage of exploration. This approval provides for the right to access the entire surface of the Project Area including the private surface lands as well as the BLM-managed surface. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has reviewed and approved the Plan and coordinated a reasonable bond with the BLM to allow Ruby Graphite to proceed with exploration activities in 2018 to 2020.