In the case of Wilbur, Secretary of the Interior v. U.S. ex rel. Vindicator Consolidated Gold Mining Co., 1931, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the defendant, Raymond L. Wilbur who was serving as Secretary of Interior at that time. The plaintiff company had claimed rights to certain mineral deposits under a piece of public land based on an 1872 mining law which allowed miners to follow veins or lodes even if they extended beneath other claims or lands not owned by them (extralateral right). However, this particular piece of land had been withdrawn from public domain and reserved for power development before their claim was made; hence it wasn't subject to appropriation under mining laws anymore according to an act passed in 1909 regarding water-power sites withdrawal policy. The court held that once such reservation is made by Presidential Proclamation under authority conferred by Congress, no one can acquire through location a vested interest in minerals lying within boundaries defined until again restored into public domain regardless whether he knew about its withdrawal status or not. This decision clarified federal government's control over valuable resources on its property and limited miner's extralateral rights only till surface boundary lines when it comes to reserved lands thus protecting national interests against private encroachments.

In the dissenting opinion for Wilbur, Secretary of the Interior v. U.S. ex rel. Vindicator Consolidated Gold Mining Co., Justice Stone argued that the majority's decision to uphold a ruling by the Secretary of Interior was incorrect because it did not properly interpret or apply existing mining laws and regulations. He believed that these laws were designed to encourage mineral exploration and development, but this purpose was undermined by allowing government officials too much discretion in determining whether a claimant had made a valuable discovery on their land - which is required to secure property rights under mining law. In his view, such decisions should be based on objective standards rather than subjective judgments about potential profitability or market conditions at any given time.