Title 43—Public Lands: Interior--Volume 1
PART 3836—ANNUAL ASSESSMENT WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR MINING CLAIMS
§ 3836.10   Performing assessment work.
§ 3836.11   What are the general requirements for performing assessment work?
(a) Beginning in the assessment year that begins after you locate your mining claim, you must expend $100 in labor or improvements for each claim for each assessment year preceding the date on which you file for a small miner waiver.
(b) You may perform assessment work on:
(1) Each individual claim;
(2) One or more claims in a group of contiguous lode or placer claims that you own or hold an interest in and that cover the same mineral deposit; or
(3) Adjacent or nearby lands if the work supports development of the minerals on the claim(s).
(c) Your total expenditure must equal at least $100 per claim.
§ 3836.12   What work qualifies as assessment work?
Assessment work includes, but is not limited to—
(a) Drilling, excavations, driving shafts and tunnels, sampling (geochemical or bulk), road construction on or for the benefit of the mining claim; and
(b) Geological, geochemical, and geophysical surveys.
§ 3836.13   What are geological, geochemical, or geophysical surveys?
(a) Geological surveys are surveys of the geology of mineral deposits. These are done by, among other things, taking mineral samples, mapping rock units, mapping structures, and mapping mineralized zones.
(b) Geochemical surveys are surveys of the chemistry of mineral deposits. They are done by, among other things, sampling soils, waters, and bedrock to identify areas of anomalous mineral values and quantities that may in turn identify mineral deposits.
(c) Geophysical surveys are surveys of the physical characteristics of mineral deposits to measure physical differences between rock types or physical discontinuities in geological formations. These surveys include, among other things, magnetic and electromagnetic surveys, gravity surveys, seismic surveys, and multispectral surveys.
§ 3836.14   What other requirements must geological, geochemical, or geophysical surveys meet to qualify as assessment work?
(a) Qualified experts must conduct the surveys and verify the results in a detailed report filed in the county or recording district office where the claim is recorded. A qualified expert is a geologist or mining engineer qualified by education and experience to conduct geological, geochemical, or geophysical surveys.
(b) You must record the report on the surveys with BLM and the local recording office, as provided in part 3835 of this chapter. This report must set forth fully the following:
(1) The location of the work performed in relation to the point of discovery and boundaries of the claim;
(2) The nature, extent, and cost of the work performed;
(3) The basic findings of the surveys; and
(4) The name, address, and professional background of persons conducting the work and analyzing the data.
(c) You may not count these surveys as assessment work for more than 2 consecutive years or for more than a total of 5 years on any one mining claim.
(d) No survey may repeat any previous survey of the same claim and still qualify as assessment work.
§ 3836.15   What happens if I fail to perform required assessment work?
If you are required to perform assessment work and—
(a) You fail to perform the assessment work as required in this part, your claim is open to relocation by a rival claimant as if no location had ever been made; or
(b) You fail substantially to perform the assessment work as required in this part and the land is withdrawn from mineral entry or the mineral for which the claim was located is no longer subject to the Mining Law, BLM may declare your claim forfeited.
§ 3836.20   Deferring assessment work.
(a) Under some circumstances, you may obtain a temporary deferment that relieves you from performing annual assessment work on your mining claims. You may include more than one mining claim in one deferment petition if the claims are contiguous.
(b) If BLM grants you a deferment, you have merely deferred doing the assessment work. You still must complete that assessment work for that assessment year after the deferment period ends, as provided in § 3836.27.
§ 3836.21   How do I qualify for a deferment of assessment work on my mining claims?
You qualify for a deferment of assessment work if—
(a) You have a mining claim or group of mining claims that you cannot enter or gain access to because—
(1) The claims are surrounded by lands owned by others, including BLM, and the land owner has refused to give you a right-of-way or you are in litigation regarding the right-of-way or in the process of acquiring the right-of-way under state law; or
(2) Some other legal impediment prevents your access.
(b) You have received a declaration of taking or notice of intent by the Federal Government to take the claim.
§ 3836.22   How do I qualify for a deferment of assessment work on my mining claims that are on National Park System (NPS) lands?
Correspondence from NPS merely denying your Plan of Operations for incompleteness or inadequacy will not suffice for a deferment of assessment work. To qualify for a deferment of assessment work on claims situated on NPS lands—
(a) You must obtain a letter from NPS stating that—
(1) NPS received and found your proposed Plan of Operations to be complete;
(2) NPS cannot act on the plan until it conducts a validity exam; and
(3) NPS anticipates completing the validity exam after the assessment year ends.
(b) You must send NPS's letter to BLM, along with other documents and information that BLM requires (see § 3836.23) to support your petition for deferment of assessment work.
§ 3836.23   How do I petition for deferment of assessment work?
In order to apply for deferment—
(a) You must submit a petition with the BLM State Office that includes:
(1) The names of the claims;
(2) The BLM serial numbers assigned to the claims;
(3) The starting date of the one-year period of the requested deferment; and
(4) A statement that you plan to file a small miner waiver form by September 1st.
(b) If you are submitting the petition because BLM or another party has denied you a right-of-way, you must also describe—
(1) The ownership and nature of the land, including topography, vegetation, surface water, and existing roads, over which you were seeking a right-of-way to reach your claims;
(2) The land over which you are seeking a right-of-way by legal subdivision if the land is surveyed;
(3) Why present use of the right-of-way is denied or prevented;
(4) The steps you have taken to acquire the right to cross the lands; and
(5) Whether any other right-of-way is available and if so, why it is not feasible to use that right-of-way.
(c) If you are submitting the petition because of other legal impediments to your access to the claim, you must describe the legal impediments and submit copies of any documents you have that evidence the legal impediments.
(d) You must record in the local recording office a notice that you are petitioning BLM for a deferment of assessment work.
(e) You must attach a copy of the notice required by paragraph (d) of this section to the petition you submit to BLM.
(f) At least one of the claimants of each of the mining claims for which you request a deferment must sign:
(1) The petition you submit to BLM; and
(2) The original notice you record with the local recording office.
(g) You must pay a processing fee with each petition. (See the table of service charges and fees in § 3830.21 of this chapter.)
§ 3836.24   If BLM approves my petition, what else must I do to obtain a deferment of assessment work?
You must record a copy of BLM's decision regarding your petition in the local recording office.
§ 3836.25   What if BLM denies my petition for deferment of assessment work?
If BLM denies your petition for deferment of assessment work, and the assessment year has ended, BLM will give you 60 days from the date you receive the BLM decision denying the petition in which to pay the maintenance fee to maintain your claim.
§ 3836.26   How long may a deferment of assessment work last?
(a) BLM may grant a deferment for up to one assessment year. However, the deferment ends automatically if the reason for the deferment ends.
(b) The deferment period will begin on the date you request in the petition unless BLM's approval sets a different date.
(c) You may petition to renew the deferment for one additional assessment year if a valid reason for a deferment continues. BLM cannot renew your deferment of assessment work more than once.
§ 3836.27   When must I complete my deferred assessment work?
(a) You may begin the deferred assessment work any time after the deferment ends. However, you must complete it before the end of the following assessment year. For example, if your deferment ends on July 15, 2008, you must complete all the deferred assessment work by September 1, 2009, in addition to completing the regular assessment work due on that date.
(b) You may also choose to pay the annual maintenance fees for the years deferred instead of performing the deferred assessment work.