Mining Foundation of the Southwest

Howard Twitty was born in Williams, Arizona in 1909. He received his B.A. from the University of Southern California in 1931, and an LL.B. from the College of Law at the University of Southern California in 1934, where he graduated with honors and was admitted to the Order of the Coif for his academic achievements. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1934 and the State Bar of Arizona in 1935.

Twitty began his career as an attorney for the Industrial Commission of the State of Arizona from 1935 to 1942. During WWII, he served as a Captain in the Office of the Quartermaster general in Washington, D.C. After the war, he returned to Phoenix and entered private law practice specializing in mining law. He was a partner in the Phoenix law firm of Twitty, Sievwright, & Mills and distinguished himself in the mining law field in resolving complex title questions for a number of major mining companies.

For many years he was an attorney for Magma Copper Company and San Manuel Copper Corporation. He also served as attorney for Banner Mining Company and worked to acquire and clear title to mineral claims governing many square miles south of Tucson. On part of those holdings, the Anaconda Company, in the late 1960s, developed the large Twin Buttes copper mining operation, which later became Anamax Mining Company.

Twitty was a highly respected public lands attorney and was a long-time member of the American Mining Congress Public Lands Committee. He and his law firm prepared the “Legal Study of the Non-fuel Mineral resources” for the Public Land Law Review Commission, a six-volume study that is still one of the most authoritative works on mining law. He was Chairman of the American Bar Association Section of Mineral and Natural Resource Law and served as past President and Trustee of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. He made significant contributions to the mining industry as a representative of mining companies in many court cases involving mining rights and as the author of numerous papers on mining law.

Howard Twitty died November 9, 1989 and is survived by his wife Zoraida and son Howard A. Twitty, Jr., both of Phoenix, Arizona.

Mining Foundation of the Southwest
P.O. Box 42317
Tucson, Arizona 85733
Tel: 520-577-7519
Fax: 520-577-7073
E-mail: admin@miningfoundationsw.org