Laws and Regulations Governing Mineral Rights in New Mexico
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NEW MEXICO STATE BUREAU OF MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES Socorro, New Mexico Don H. Baker, Jr., Director LAWS AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING MINERAL RIGHTS IN NEW MEXICO by VICTORH.VERITY and ROBERT J. YOUNG 1971 NEWMEXICOSTATE BUREAUOFMINESANDMINERALRESOURCES Don H. Baker, Jr., Director A Division of NEWMEXICOINSTITUTEOFMINING&TECHNOLOGY Stirling A. Colgate, President THE REGENTS MEMBERS EX OFFICIO THE HONORABLE BRUCE KING ..........Governor of New Mexico LEONARD DELAYO .. Superintendent of Public Instruction APPOINTED MEMBERS WILLIAM G. ABBOTT ...................................................... Hobbs HENRY S. BIRDSEYE .......................................... Albuquerque THOMAS M. CRAMER ............................................... Carlsbad STEVE S. TORRES, JR. ................................................. Socorro RICHARD M. ZIMMERLY ............................................... Socorro PRINTED 1971 For sale by the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources Campus Station, Socorro, N. Mex. 87801—Price $1.00 ii CONTENTS Page Introduction ....................................................................... vi Mining law generally ............................................................ 1 Who may locate a mining claim ............................................. 3 Lands subject to location ...................................................... 3 In general ................................................................... 3 National forests ........................................................... 5 Grazing districts .......................................................... 5 Land exchanges .......................................................... 5 Stock-Raising homesteads ............................................ 6 Agricultural homesteads ............................................... 6 Reclamation withdrawals .............................................. 6 Power sites .................................................................. 7 State lands ................................................................. 7 Game refuges and ranges ............................................. 7 Stock driveways ........................................................... 7 Lands not open to location ................................................... 8 Classification Act of 1964 ............................................. 8 National parks and monuments .................................... 9 Recreational or other public uses ................................... 9 Wilderness areas ......................................................... 10 Experimental forests and ranges ................................... 10 Military reservations ..................................................... 10 Reclamation withdrawals .............................................. 11 Agricultural homesteads ............................................... 11 Small tracts for residence and other uses ....................... 11 Indian reservations ...................................................... 11 Game refuges .............................................................. 13 Administrative sites ..................................................... 13 Uranium on certain withdrawn lands ............................. 13 Petrified wood .............................................................. 13 Spanish Land Grants ................................................... 13 Mexico-United States Border.......................................... 14 Railroad lands ............................................................. 14 Substances which may be located under the Federal and State mining laws .......................................... 14 Public domain of the United States................................. 14 Lands of the State of New Mexico ................................... 14 Mining locations on public domain of the United States ................................................................... 15 Lodes and placers in general ......................................... 15 Federal and State legislation ......................................... 16 Discovery ................................................................. 17 iii Page Lode claims ....................................................................... 19 Location ........................................................................ 19 Recording ...................................................................... 20 Performing location work .............................................. 20 Relocation ..................................................................... 22 Amendment ................................................................... 22 Mineral rights of a lode locator .................................... 23 Placer claims ..................................................................... 23 In general ...................................................................... 23 Size of claim .................................................................. 24 Location ........................................................................ 24 Recording ...................................................................... 25 Marking boundaries ...................................................... 25 Performing location work .............................................. 25 Mineral rights of a placer locator ................................. 26 Mill site ............................................................................. 26 Tunnel location ................................................................. 26 Maintenance of title .......................................................... 27 Annual work requirement ............................................. 28 What may be applied as annual work .......................... 28 Bombing and gunnery ranges ............................................ 31 Recording affidavit of performance of annual assessment work .......................................... 31 Failure to perform annual assessment work ................. 32 Contributions of co-owners to cost of assessment work ....................................................... 33 Relocation by delinquent owner ................................... 33 Patent to mining claims ................................................... 33 Extra lateral or apex rights .............................................. 34 Leasing Act of 1920 .......................................................... 35 Potash permits and leases ............................................... 35 Stock-Raising homesteads ............................................... 36 Agricultural homesteads .................................................. 38 Multiple Mineral Development Act of 1954 ..................... 39 The Multiple Surface Use Act of 1955 ............................. 40 Acquisition of mining rights on State Land ...................... 46 In general ................................................................................ 46 Responsibility of State Land Office and Commissioner .................................................... 46 Application for general mining lease........................... 47 Withdrawal and withholding from lease ...................... 48 Forms and terms of lease ............................................. 49 Assignments .................................................................. 50 iv Page Bonds .......................................................................... 52 Reports ......................................................................... 52 Lease of State Lands for other minerals and materials ..... 53 General Information ............................................................. 54 Community property and conveyance of mining claims.. 54 No lien notice ................................................................ 54 Mine safety rules ........................................................... 54 Workmen's compensation .............................................. 54 Mining partnership and grubstake ................................. 55 Public land survey ......................................................... 55 Forms .............................................................................57-65 Index ................................................................................... 67 Citations to laws and regulations are abbreviated as follows: New Mexico Statutes Annotated—N.M.S.A. United States Code—U.S.C. Code of Federal Regulations—C.F.R. 43 C.F.R. as renumbered; see Federal Register June 13, 1970 INTRODUCTION The preparation and publication of this booklet is funded pursuant to 1967 Laws of New Mexico, Chapter 171, Section 1. The publication would not be possible without the kind coop- eration of the Department of Mineral Resources of the State of Arizona, which has authorized the use of the material contained in its publication entitled Laws and Regulations Governing Mineral Rights in Arizona, 7th Edition, Revised June, 1970, by Victor H. Verity, mining attorney of Tucson, Arizona, and the cooperation and consent of the author thereof. The entire text has been reviewed by Mr. Verity. The material relating solely to New Mexico laws has been written by Robert J. Young, attorney, of Silver City, New Mexico. The Bureau also acknowledges the aid and counsel freely given by Mr. Ben Shantz, attorney, of Silver City, New Mexico, Gilbert R. Griswold and William 0. Jordan who reviewed the material. The scope of the booklet is limited to the Federal and State mining laws as they apply within the