Conway granite Conway granite Conway granite is a typically pink mineral-rich igneous (or mesoperthitic) biotite granite. It is amphibole-free and of coarse particle size (with portions of the rock fine-grained or porphyritic). Conway granite has a relatively high concentration of thorium, at about 56 (±6) PPM; this amount is not enough to make the granite dangerously radioactive, but it is sufficient to make the rock a low-grade (almost certainly not economic, at least in the early years) source of thorium for a thorium fuel cycle. Geologist Edward Hitchcock named the granite in 1877 after the town of Conway, New Hampshire, which is
California Coastal Comm'n v. Granite Rock Co. The Coastal Commission did not seek to prohibit mining of the unpatented claim, only to regulate mining activity in accordance with the detailed requirements of the California Coastal Act. Granite Rock filed an action in U.S. District Court claiming that the Coastal Commission permit requirement was preempted by Forest Service regulations, by the Mining Act of 1872, and by the Coastal Zone Management Act. The District Court denied Granite Rock's motion for summary judgment, and dismissed the action. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the lower court's decision, holding that the Coastal Commission permit requirement was preempted