Is this a case where everyone has good point? $859 is a long jump from free. Whatever the reasoning, this absolutely will shut down reasonsble claims at the same rate as vexatious. All a charge like this does is shut out the less financially elastic in their claims.
Yeah, it mostly will be minera paying.
If you read the tiny note at the bottom of the article, most of the claims, vexatious or not, were made by miners in the sample period.
Problem is not every miner/prospector has roy hill money.