§ 3830.97 43 CFR Ch. II (10–1–20 Edition)

§ 3830.97 What if I pay only part of the 3832.34 How may I use my mill site? service charges for a notice of in- tent to locate mining claims on Subpart D—Tunnel Sites SRHA lands? 3832.40 Tunnel sites. For notices of intent to locate min- 3832.41 What is a tunnel site? ing claims (NOITL) under the 3832.42 How do I locate a tunnel site? Stockraising Homestead Act (see part 3832.43 How may I use a tunnel site? 3838 of this chapter for information re- 3832.44 What rights do I have to minerals garding the Stockraising Homestead within my tunnel site? Act and NOITLs), BLM will not accept 3832.45 How do I obtain any minerals that I a NOITL unless we receive your pay- discover within my tunnel site? ment of the required service charges. Subpart E—Defective Locations BLM will return the NOITL to you without taking any further action. See 3832.90 Defects in the location of mining § 3830.21 of this part for the amount of claims and sites. the service charge for a NOITL. 3832.91 How do I amend a mining claim or site location if it exceeds the size limita- tions? Subpart F—Appeals AUTHORITY: 30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.; 43 U.S.C. 2, § 3830.100 How do I appeal a final de- 1201, 1457, 1740, 1744. cision by BLM? SOURCE: 68 FR 61069, Oct. 24, 2003, unless If you are adversely affected by a otherwise noted. BLM decision under parts 3830–3839, you may appeal the decision in accord- Subpart A—Locating Mining ance with parts 4 and 1840 of this title. Claims or Sites PART 3831—MINERAL LANDS § 3832.1 What does it mean to locate AVAILABLE FOR LOCATING MIN- mining claims or sites? ING CLAIMS OR SITES [RE- (a) Locating a mining claim or site SERVED] means: (1) Establishing the exterior lines of a mining claim or site on lands open to PART 3832—LOCATING MINING mineral entry to identify the exact CLAIMS OR SITES land claimed; and (2) Recording a notice or certificate Subpart A—Locating Mining Claims or Sites of location as required by state and Sec. Federal law and by this part. 3832.1 What does it mean to locate mining (b) You will find— claims or sites? (1) Location requirements in this 3832.10 Procedures for locating mining part; claims or sites. (2) Recording requirements in part 3832.11 How do I locate mining claims or 3833 of this chapter; sites? 3832.12 When I record a mining claim or (3) Requirements for transferring an site, how do I describe the lands I have interest in a mining claim or site in claimed? § 3833.30 of this chapter; and (4) Annual fee requirements for min- Subpart B—Types of Mining Claims ing claims and sites in parts 3834, 3835, 3832.20 Lode and placer mining claims. and 3836 of this chapter. 3832.21 How do I locate a lode or placer min- ing claim? § 3832.10 Procedures for locating min- 3832.22 How much land may I include in my ing claims or sites. mining claim? § 3832.11 How do I locate mining Subpart C—Mill Sites claims or sites? (a) You must follow both state and 3832.30 Mill sites. 3832.31 What is a mill site? Federal law. 3832.32 How much land may I include in my (b) Your lode or placer claim is not mill site? valid until you make a discovery with- 3832.33 How do I locate a mill site? in the boundaries of the claim.

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(c) To locate a claim or site, you rectangular subdivisions as much as must— possible; and (1) Make certain that the land on (2)(i) You must file either— which you are locating the claim or (A) A topographical map published by site is Federal land that is open to the U.S. Geological Survey with a de- mineral entry piction of the claim or site; or (2) Stake and monument the corners (B) A narrative or sketch describing of a mining claim or site which meets the claim or site and tying the descrip- applicable state monumenting require- tion to a natural object, permanent ments and the size limitations de- monument or topographic, hydro- scribed in § 3832.22 for lode and placer graphic, or man-made feature. claims, § 3832.32 for mill sites, and (ii) You must show on a map or § 3832.42 for tunnel sites; sketch the boundaries and position of (3) Post the notice of location in a the individual claim or site by aliquot conspicuous place on the claim or site. part within the quarter section accu- The notice must include: rately enough for BLM to identify the (i) The name or names of the loca- mining claims or sites on the ground. tors; (iii) You may show more than one (ii) The date of the location; and claim or site on a single map or de- (iii) A description of the claim or scribe more than one claim or site in a site; single sketch— (iv) The name or number of the claim (A) If they are located in the same or site, or both, if the claim or site has general area; and both; (B) If the individual mining claims or (4) Record the notice or certificate of sites are clearly identified. location in the local recording office (iv) You are not required to employ a and the BLM State Office with jurisdic- professional surveyor or engineer to es- tion according to the procedures in tablish the location’s position on the part 3833; ground. (5) Follow all other relevant state (b) Lode claims. You must describe law requirements; and lode claims by metes and bounds begin- (6) Comply with the specific require- ning at the discovery point on the ments for lode claims, placer claims, claim and include a tie to natural ob- mill sites, or tunnel sites in this part. jects or permanent monuments includ- ing: § 3832.12 When I record a mining claim (1) Township and section survey or site, how do I describe the lands monuments; I have claimed? (2) Official U.S. mineral survey (a) General requirements. (1) All claims monuments; and sites. You must describe the land (3) Monuments of the National Geo- by state, meridian, township, range, detic Reference System; section and by aliquot part to the quar- (4) The confluence of streams or ter section. To obtain the land descrip- point of intersection of well-known tion, you must use an official survey gulches, ravines, or roads, prominent plat or other U.S. Government map buttes, and hills; or that is based on the surveyed or pro- (5) Adjoining claims or sites. tracted U.S. Public Land Survey Sys- (c) Placer claims. (1) You must de- tem. If you cannot describe the land by scribe placer claims by aliquot part aliquot part (e.g., the land is and complete lots using the U.S. Public unsurveyed), you must provide a metes Land Survey System and its rectan- and bounds description that fixes the gular subdivisions except when placer position of the claim corners with re- claims are— spect to a specified claim corner, dis- (i) On unsurveyed Federal lands; covery monument, or official survey (ii) Gulch or bench placer claims; or monument. In all cases, your descrip- (iii) Bounded by other mining claims tion of the land must be as compact or nonmineral lands. and regular in form as reasonably pos- (2) For placer mining claims that are sible and should conform to the U.S. on unsurveyed Federal lands or are Public Land Survey System and its gulch or bench placer claims:

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(i) You must describe the lands by vein, lode, or ledge and the vein, lode, protracted survey if the BLM has a or ledge extends through the endlines protracted survey of record; or of your lode claim, you have extra-lat- (ii) You may describe the lands by eral rights to pursue the down-dip ex- metes and bounds, if a protracted sur- tension of the vein, lode, or ledge to vey is not available or if the land is not the point where the vein, lode, or ledge amenable to protraction. intersects a vertical plain projected (3) If you are describing an associa- parallel to the end lines and outside tion placer claim by metes and bounds, the sideline boundaries of your lode you must meet the following require- claim if— ments, according to the number of per- (i) The top or apex of the vein, lode, sons in your association, as described or ledge lies on or under the surface in Snow Flake Fraction Placer, 37 Pub. within the interior boundaries of the Lands Dec. 250 (1908), in order to keep lode claim; and your claim in compact form and not (ii) The long axis, and therefore the split Federal lands into narrow, long or side lines, of the lode claim are sub- irregular shapes: stantially parallel to the course of the (i) A location by 1 or 2 persons must vein, lode, or ledge. fit within the exterior boundaries of a (4) Preserving extralateral rights. In square 40-acre parcel; order to preserve your extralateral (ii) A location by 3 or 4 persons must rights, you should determine, if pos- fit within the exterior boundaries of 2 sible, the general course of the vein in square 40-acre contiguous parcels; either direction from the point of dis- (iii) A location by 5 or 6 persons must covery in order to mark the correct fit within the exterior boundaries of 3 boundaries of the claim. You should ex- square contiguous 40-acre parcels; and pose the vein, lode, or ledge by— (iv) A location by 7 or 8 persons must (i) Tracing the vein or lode on the fit within the exterior boundaries of 4 surface; or square contiguous 40-acre parcels. (ii) Drilling a hole, sinking a shaft, or running a tunnel or drift to a sufficient Subpart B—Types of Mining depth. Claims (b) Placer claims. (1) Your placer claim is not valid until you have made § 3832.20 Lode and placer mining a discovery. claims. (2) Each 10-acre aliquot part of your placer claim must be mineral-in-char- § 3832.21 How do I locate a lode or acter. placer mining claim? (3) You may locate a placer claim for (a) Lode claims. (1) Your lode claim is minerals that are— not valid until you have made a dis- (i) River sands or gravels bearing covery. gold or valuable detrital minerals; (2) Locating a lode claim. You may lo- (ii) Hosted in soils, alluvium (depos- cate a lode claim for a mineral that: ited by water), eluvium (deposited by (i) Occurs as veins, lodes, ledges, or wind), colluvium (deposited by grav- other rock in place; ity), talus, or other rock not in its (ii) Contains base and precious met- original place; als, gems and semi-precious stones, and (iii) Bedded gypsum, limestone, cin- certain industrial minerals, including ders, pumice, and similar mineral de- but not limited to gold, silver, cinna- posits; or bar, lead, tin, copper, zinc, fluorite, (iv) Mineral-bearing brine (water barite, or other valuable deposits; and saturated or strongly impregnated (iii) Does not occur as bedded rock with salts and containing ancillary (stratiform deposits such as gypsum or locatable minerals) not subject to the limestone) or is not a deposit of placer, mineral leasing acts where a mineral alluvial (deposited by water), eluvial subject to the General Mining Law can (deposited by wind), colluvial (depos- be extracted as the primary valuable ited by gravity), or aqueous origin. mineral. (3) Establishing extralateral rights. If (4) Building stone deposits must by the minerals are contained within a law be located as placer mining claims

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(30 U.S.C. 161). If you have located a (i) Ores for other miners on a con- building stone placer claim, the lands tractual basis; or on which you located the claim must (ii) Ores that are purchased by the be chiefly valuable for mining building independent or custom mill site owner. stone. (3) You may not have a custom or independent mill site for processing § 3832.22 How much land may I in- materials from placer mining claims. clude in my mining claim? (a) Lode claims. Lode claims must not § 3832.32 How much land may I in- exceed 1,500 by 600 feet. If there is a clude in my mill site? vein, lode, or ledge, each lode claim is The maximum size of an individual limited to a maximum of 1,500 feet mill site is 5 acres. You may locate along the course of the vein, lode, or more than one mill site per mining ledge and a maximum of 300 feet in claim if you use each site for at least width on each side of the middle of the one of the purposes described in vein, lode, or ledge. § 3832.34 of this part. You may locate (b) Placer claims. (1) An individual only that amount of mill site acreage placer claim may not exceed 20 acres in that is reasonably necessary to be used size. or occupied for efficient and reasonably (2) An association placer claim may compact mining or milling operations. not exceed 160 acres. Within the asso- ciation, each person or business entity § 3832.33 How do I locate a mill site? may locate up to 20 acres. To obtain (a) You may locate a mill site in the the full 160 acres, the association must same manner as a lode or placer min- consist of at least eight co-locators. ing claim, except that— You may locate smaller association (1) It must be on land that is not claims. Thus, three co-locators may mineral-in-character; and jointly locate an association placer (2) You must use or occupy each two claim no larger than 60 acres. You may and a half acre portion of a mill site in not use the names of other persons as order for that portion of the mill site dummy locators (fictitious locators) to to be valid. locate an association placer claim for (b) If the United States does not own your own benefit. the surface estate of a particular parcel of land, you may not locate a mill site Subpart C—Mill Sites on that land under the General Mining Law or the Stockraising Homestead § 3832.30 Mill sites. Act (see part 3838 of this chapter).

§ 3832.31 What is a mill site? § 3832.34 How may I use my mill site? A mill site is a location of nonmin- (a) Upon obtaining authorization eral land not contiguous to a vein or under the surface management regula- lode that you can use for activities rea- tions of the surface managing agency, sonably incident to mineral develop- you may use and occupy dependent ment on, or production from, the mill sites for: unpatented or patented lode or placer (1) Placement of grinding, crushing, claim with which it is associated. or milling facilities (such as rod and (a) A dependent mill site is used for ball mills, cone crushers, and floata- activities that support a particular tion cells) and reduction facilities patented or unpatented lode or placer (such as smelting, electro-winning, mining claim or group of mining roasters, autoclaves, and leachate re- claims. covery); (b) An independent or custom mill (2) Mine administrative and support site— buildings, warehouses and maintenance (1) Is not dependent on a particular buildings, electrical plants and sub- mining claim but provides milling or stations; reduction processing for nearby lode (3) Tailings ponds and leach pads; mines or a lode mining district; (4) Rock and soil dumps; (2) Is used to mill, process, and re- (5) Water and process treatment duce either— plants; and

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(6) Any other use that is reasonably the tunnel for 3,000 feet or to the end of incident to mine development and op- the tunnel, whichever is shorter. eration, except for uses exclusively supporting reclamation or mine clo- [68 FR 61064, Oct. 24, 2003; 68 FR 74197, Dec. 23, 2003] sure. (b) Upon obtaining authorization § 3832.43 How may I use a tunnel site? under the surface management regula- tions of the surface managing agency, You may use the tunnel site for sub- you may use and occupy independent surface access to a lode claim or to ex- mill sites for processing metallic min- plore for and acquire previously un- erals from lode claims using: known lodes, veins, or ledges within (1) Quartz or stamp mills; or the confines of the tunnel site. (2) Reduction works, including place- ment of grinding, crushing, or milling § 3832.44 What rights do I have to min- facilities (such as rod and ball mills, erals within my tunnel site? cone crushers, and floatation cells), re- (a) If you located your tunnel site in duction facilities (such as smelting, good faith, you may acquire the right electro-winning, roasters, autoclaves, to any blind veins, ledges, or lodes cut, and leachate recovery), tailings ponds, discovered, or intersected by your tun- and leach pads. nel, by locating a lode claim, if they— (1) Are located within a radius of Subpart D—Tunnel Sites 1,500 feet from the tunnel axis; and (2) Were not previously known to § 3832.40 Tunnel sites. exist on the surface and within the lim- its of your tunnel. § 3832.41 What is a tunnel site? (b) Your site is protected from other A tunnel site is a subsurface right-of- parties making locations of lodes with- way under Federal land open to min- in the sidelines of the tunnel and with- eral entry. It is used for access to lode in the 3,000-foot length of the tunnel, mining claims or to explore for blind or unless such lodes appear upon the sur- undiscovered veins, lodes, or ledges not face or were previously known to exist. currently claimed or known to exist on the surface. (c) You must diligently work on the tunnel site. If you cease working on it § 3832.42 How do I locate a tunnel site? for more than 6 consecutive months, you will lose your right to possess all You may locate a tunnel site by: unknown, undiscovered veins, lodes, or (a) Erecting a substantial post, board, or monument at the face of the ledges that your tunnel may intersect. tunnel, which is the point where the § 3832.45 How do I obtain any minerals tunnel enters cover; that I discover within my tunnel (b) Placing a location notice or cer- site? tificate on the post, board, or monu- ment that includes: (a) Even if you have located the tun- (1) The names of the claimants; nel site, you must separately locate a (2) The actual or proposed course or lode claim to acquire the possessory direction of the tunnel; right to a blind vein, lode, or ledge you (3) The height and width of the tun- have discovered within the boundaries nel; and of the tunnel site sidelines. (4) The course and distance from the (b) The date of location of your lode face or starting point to some perma- claim is retroactive to the date of loca- nent well-known natural objects or tion of your tunnel site. permanent monuments, in the same manner as required to describe a lode claim (see § 3832.12(a) and (b)); and (c) Placing stakes or monuments on the surface along the boundary lines of the tunnel at proper intervals as re- quired under state law from the face of

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Subpart E—Defective Locations Subpart D—Defective Filings § 3832.90 Defects in the location of 3833.90 Defects in recordings or filings for mining claims and sites. mining claims and sites. 3833.91 What defects cannot be cured under § 3832.91 How do I amend a mining this part? claim or site location if it exceeds 3833.92 What happens if I do not file a trans- the size limitations? fer of interest? (a) You may correct defects in your AUTHORITY: 30 U.S.C. 22 et seq., 621–625; 43 location of a mining claim, mill site, or U.S.C. 2, 1201, 1457, 1701 et seq.; 62 Stat. 162; tunnel site by filing an amended notice 115 Stat. 414. of location (see § 3833.20 of this chapter SOURCE: 68 FR 61071, Oct. 24, 2003, unless on conditions allowing amendments otherwise noted. and how to record them.) (b) For placer claims or mill sites Subpart A—Recording Process that you located using an irregular survey or lotting of irregular sections, § 3833.1 Why must I record mining you may use the ‘‘Rule of Approxima- claims and sites? tion’’ to determine allowable acreage. FLPMA requires you to record all The Rule of Approximation applies mining claims and sites with BLM and only to surveyed public lands. It was the local recording office in order to developed to determine maximum al- maintain a mining claim or site under lowable acreage for land entries (placer the General Mining Law. claims in this part) where the excess (a) If you fail to record a mining acreage is less than the difference claim or site with the BLM and the would be if the smallest legal subdivi- local recording office by the 90th day sion is excluded from the location or after the date of location, it is aban- entry. In no case may you use the rule doned and void by operation of law. to obtain more acreage than allowed (b) Recording a mining claim or site, under the applicable law. (See Henry C. filing any other documents with BLM, 8 Pub. Lands Dec. 205 (1889)). Tingley, or paying fees or service charges, as this part requires, does not make a PART 3833—RECORDING MINING claim or site valid if it not otherwise CLAIMS AND SITES valid under applicable law.

Subpart A—Recording Process § 3833.10 Procedures for recording mining claims and sites. Sec. 3833.1 Why must I record mining claims and § 3833.11 How do I record mining sites? claims and sites? 3833.10 Procedures for recording mining claims and sites. (a) You must record in the proper 3833.11 How do I record mining claims and BLM State Office a copy of the notice sites? of certificate of location that you recordedor will record in the local re- Subpart B—Amending Mining Claims and cording office by the 90th day after the Sites date of location. If there is no record- 3833.20 Amending mining claims and sites. ing requirement under state law (as in 3833.21 When may I amend a notice or cer- Arkansas), you still must record a doc- tificate of location? ument with BLM and the local record- 3833.22 How do I amend my location? ing office that contains the informa- tion required by this part. Subpart C—Filing Transfers of Interest (b) Your notice or certificate of loca- 3833.30 Filing transfers of interest in mining tion must include: claims or sites. (1) The name or number, or both, of 3833.31 What is a transfer of interest? the claim or site; 3833.32 How do I transfer a mining claim or (2) The names and current mailing site? 3833.33 How may I transfer, sell, or other- addresses of the locators of the claim; wise convey an association placer mining (3) The type of claim or site; claim? (4) The date of location; and

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