The modern mining code has found no place in the United Kingdom, which has held on to the archaic, yet rather quaint, notion of landowners maintaing their right to mine minerals, save, of course, for gold and silver (known as Royal Mines) which a court in 1568 (R. v. Earl of Northumberland) indicated rather presumptively belonged to the Queen (upon her application). In this regard, whilst the law of mining does not interfere with the miner, neither does it come to its aid in areas such as the licencing of competing mines, surface and access rights, and permitting. To say that the law is antiquated is an understatement when one must read the Royal Mines Act 1688 in order to fully appreciate a subtle aspect of mineral ownership in the country.