Title 43—Public Lands: Interior--Volume 1
PART 3860—MINERAL PATENT APPLICATIONS
§ 3860.1   Fees.
(a) Each mineral patent application must include the processing fee found in the fee schedule in § 3000.12 of this chapter to cover BLM's adjudication costs for the application.
(b) As provided at § 3800.5 of this chapter, BLM will charge a separate processing fee on a case-by-case basis as described in § 3000.11 of this chapter to cover its costs for conducting and preparing the validity examination and report.
§ 3861.1   Surveys of mining claims.
§ 3861.1-1   Application for survey.
The claimant is required, in the first place, to have a correct survey of his claim made under authority of the proper cadastral engineer, such survey to show with accuracy the exterior surface boundaries of the claim, which boundaries are required to be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground. He is required to have a correct survey where patent is applied for and where the mining claim is in vein or lode formation, or covers lands not surveyed in accordance with the U.S. system of rectangular surveys, or where the mining claim fails to conform with the legal subdivisions of the federal surveys. Application for authorization of survey should be made to the appropriate land office (see § 1821.2-1 of this chapter).
§ 3861.1-2   Survey must be made subsequent to recording notice of location.
The survey and plat of mineral claims required to be filed in the proper office with application for patent must be made subsequent to the recording of the location of the claim (if the laws of the State or the regulations of the mining district require the notice of location to be recorded), and when the original location is made by survey of a mineral surveyor such location survey cannot be substituted for that required by the statute, as above indicated. All matters relating to the duties of mineral surveyors, and to the field and office procedure to be observed in the execution of mineral surveys, are set forth in Chapter X of the Manual of Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States, 1947.
§ 3861.1-3   Plats and field notes of mineral surveys.
When the patent is issued, one copy of the plat and field notes shall accompany the patent and be delivered to the patentee.
§ 3861.2   Surveys: Specific.
§ 3861.2-1   Particulars to be observed in mineral surveys.
(a) The following particulars should be observed in the survey of every mining claim:
(1) The exterior boundaries of the claim, the number of feet claimed along the vein, and, as nearly as can be ascertained, the direction of the vein, and the number of feet claimed on the vein in each direction from the point of discovery or other well-defined place on the claim should be represented on the plat of survey and in the field notes.
(2) The intersection of the lines of the survey with the lines of conflicting prior surveys should be noted in the field notes and represented upon the plat.
(3) Conflicts with unsurveyed claims, where the applicant for survey does not claim the area in conflict, should be shown by actual survey.
(4) The total area of the claim embraced by the exterior boundaries should be stated, and also the area in conflict with each intersecting survey, substantially as follows:
(b) It does not follow that because mining surveys are required to exhibit all conflicts with prior surveys the area of conflict with prior surveys the area of conflict are to be excluded. The field notes and plat are made a part of the application for patent, and care should be taken that the description does not inadvertently exclude portions intended to be retained. The application for patent should state the portions to be excluded in express terms.
§ 3861.2-2   Certificate of expenditures and improvements.
(a) The claimant at the time of filing the application for patent, or at any time within the 60 days of publication, is required to file with the authorized officer a certificate of the office cadastral engineer that not less than $500 worth of labor has been expended or improvements made, by the applicant or his grantors, upon each location embraced in the application, or if the application embraces several contiguous locations held in common, that an amount equal to $500 for each location has been so expended upon, and for the benefit of, the entire group; that the plat filed by the claimant is correct; that the field notes of the survey, as filed, furnish such an accurate description of the claim as will, if incorporation in a patent, serve to identify the premises fully, and that such reference is made therein to natural objects or permanent monuments as will perpetuate and fix the locus thereof.
(b) In case of a lode and mill-site claim in the same survey the expenditure of $500 must be shown upon the lode claim.
§ 3861.2-3   Mineral surveyor's report of expenditures and improvements.
(a) In the mineral surveyor's report of the value of the improvements all actual expenditures and mining improvements made by the claimant or his grantors, having a direct relation to the development of the claim, must be included in the estimate.
(b) The expenditures required may be made from the surface or in running a tunnel, drifts, or crosscuts for the development of the claim. Expenditures for drill holes for the purpose of prospecting and securing data upon which further development of a group of lode mining claims held in common may be based are available toward meeting the statutory provision requiring an expenditure of $500 as a basis for patent as to all of the claims of the group situated in close proximity to such common improvement. Improvements of any other character, such as buildings, machinery, or roadways, must be excluded from the estimate, unless it is shown clearly that they are associated with actual excavations, such as cuts, tunnels, shafts, etc., are essential to the practical development of and actually facilitate the extraction of mineral from the claim.
(c) Improvements made by a former locator who has abandoned his claim cannot be included in the estimate, but should be described and located in the notes and plat.
§ 3861.2-4   Supplemental proof of expenditures and improvements.
If the value of the labor and improvements upon a mineral claim is less than $500 at the time of survey the mineral surveyor may file with the cadastral engineer supplemental proof showing $500 expenditure made prior to the expiration of the period of publication.
§ 3861.2-5   Amended mineral surveys.
(a) Inasmuch as amended surveys are ordered only by special instructions from the Bureau of Land Management, and the conditions and circumstances peculiar to each separate case and the object sought by the required amendment, alone govern all special matters relative to the manner of making such survey and the form and subject matter to be embraced in the field notes thereof, but few general rules applicable to all cases can be laid down.
(b) The expense of amended surveys, including amendment of plat and field notes, and office work in the Bureau of Land Management office will be borne by the claimant.
(c) The amended survey must be made in strict conformity with, or be embraced within, the lines of the original survey. If the amended and original surveys are identical, that fact must be clearly and distinctly stated in the field notes. If not identical, a bearing and distance must be given from each established corner of the amended survey to the corresponding corner of the original survey. The lines of the original survey, as found upon the ground, must be laid down upon the preliminary plat in such manner as to contrast and show their relation to the lines of the amended survey.
§ 3861.3   Mineral surveyors.
§ 3861.3-1   Extent of duties.
The duty of a mineral surveyor in any particular case ceases when he has executed the survey and returned the field notes and preliminary plat, with his report, to the cadastral engineer. He will not be allowed to prepare for the mining claimant the papers in support of his application for patent. He is not permitted to combine the duties of surveyor and notary public in the same case by administering oaths. It is preferable that both preliminary and final oaths of assistants should be taken before some officer duly authorized to administer oaths, other than the mineral surveyor. In cases, however, where great delay, expense, or inconvenience would result from a strict compliance with this section, the mineral surveyor is authorized to administer the necessary oaths to his assistants, but in each case where this is done, he will submit to the proper cadastral engineer a full written report of the circumstances which required his stated action; otherwise he must have absolutely nothing to do with the case, except in his official capacity as surveyor. He will not employ field assistants interested therein in any manner.
§ 3861.3-2   Assistants.
The employing of claimants, their attorneys, or parties in interest, as assistants in making surveys of mineral claims will not be allowed.
§ 3861.4   Contract for surveys.
§ 3861.4-1   Payment.
(a) The claimant is required, in all cases, to make satisfactory arrangements with the surveyor for the payment for his services and those of his assistants in making the survey, as the United States will not be held responsible for the same.
(b) The state director has no jurisdiction to settle differences relative to the payment of charges for field work, between mineral surveyors and claimants. These are matters of private contract and must be enforced in the ordinary manner, i.e., in the local courts. The Department has, however, authority to investigate charges affecting the official actions of mineral surveyors, and will, on sufficient cause shown, suspend or revoke their appointment.
§ 3861.5   Appointment and employment of mineral surveyors.
§ 3861.5-1   Appointment.
Pursuant to section 2334 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 39), the Director or his delegate will appoint only a sufficient number of surveyors for the survey of mining claims to meet the demand for that class of work. Each appointee shall qualify as prescribed by the Director or his delegate. Applications for appointment as a mineral surveyor may be made at any office of the Bureau of Land Management listed in § 1821.2-1 of these regulations. A roster of appointed mineral surveyors will be available at these offices. Each appointee may execute mineral surveys in any State where mineral surveys are authorized.
§ 3861.5-2   Employment.
A mineral claimant may employ any United States mineral surveyor qualified as indicated in paragraph (a) of this section to make the survey of his claim. All expenses of the survey of mining claims and the publication of the required notices of application for patent are to be borne by the mining claimants.
§ 3861.6   Plats and notices.
§ 3861.6-1   Payment of charges of the public survey office.
With regard to the platting of the claim and other office work in the Bureau of Land Management office, including the preparation of the copies of the plat and field notes to be furnished the claimant, that office will make an estimate of the cost thereof, which amount the claimant will deposit with it to be passed to the credit of the fund created by “Deposits by Individuals for Surveying Public Lands.”
§ 3861.7   Posting.
§ 3861.7-1   Plat and notice to be posted on claim.
The claimant is required to post a copy of the plat of survey in a conspicuous place upon the claim, together with notice of his intention to apply for a patent therefor, which notice will give the date of posting, the name of the claimant, the name of the claim, the number of the survey, the mining district and county, and the names of adjoining and conflicting claims as shown by the plat of survey.
§ 3861.7-2   Proof of posting on the claim.
After posting the said plat and notice upon the premises the claimant will file with the proper manager two copies of such plat and the field notes of survey of the claim, accompanied by two copies of the statement of at least two credible witnesses that such plat and notice are posted conspicuously upon the claim, giving the date and place of such posting, and two copies of the notice so posted to be attached to and form a part of said statement.
§ 3862.1   Lode claim patent applications: General.
§ 3862.1-1   Application for patent.
(a) At the time the proof of posting is filed the claimant must file in duplicate an application for patent showing that he has the possessory right to the claim, in virtue of a compliance by himself (and by his grantors, if he claims by purchase) with the mining rules, regulations, and customs of the mining district or State in which the claim lies, and with the mining laws of Congress, such statement to narrate briefly, but as clearly as possible, the facts constituting such compliance, the origin of his possession, and the basis of his claim to a patent. The application should contain a full description of the kind and character of the vein or lode and should state whether ore has been extracted therefrom; and if so, in what amount and of what value. It should also show the precise place within the limits of each of the locations embraced in the application where the vein or lode has been exposed or discovered and the width thereof. The showing in these regards should contain sufficient data to enable representatives of the Government to confirm the same by examination in the field and also enable the Bureau of Land Management to determine whether a valuable deposit of mineral actually exists within the limits of each of the locations embraced in the application.
(b) Every application for patent, based on a mining claim located after August 1, 1946, shall state whether the claimant has or has not had any direct or indirect part in the development of the atomic bomb project. The application must set forth in detail the exact nature of the claimant's participation in the project, and must also state whether as a result of such participation he acquired any confidential, official information as to the existence of deposits of uranium, thorium, or other fissionable source materials in the lands covered by his application.
(c) In applying for patent to a mining claim embracing land lying partly within one proper office and partly within another, a full set of papers must be filed in each office, except that one abstract of title and one proof of patent expenditures will be sufficient. Only one newspaper publication and one posting on the claim will be required, but proof thereof must be filed in both offices, the statements as to posting plat and notice on the claim to be signed within the respective land districts, as well, also, as all of the other statements required in mineral patent proceedings, except such as, under the law, may be signed outside of the land district wherein the land applied for is situated. Publication, payment of fees, and the purchase price of the land will be further governed by the provisions of §§ 1823.4(a) and 1861.2 of this chapter.
§ 3862.1-2   Fees.
An applicant for a lode mining claim patent must pay fees as described in § 3860.1.
§ 3862.1-3   Evidence of title.
(a) Each patent application must be supported by either a certificate of title or an abstract of title certified to by the legal custodian of the records of locations and transfers of mining claims or by an abstracter of titles. The certificate of title or certificate to an abstract of title must be by a person, association, or corporation authorized by the State laws to execute such a certificate and acceptable to the Bureau of Land Management.
(b) A certificate of title must conform substantially to a form approved by the Director.
(c) Each certificate of title or abstract of title must be accompanied by single copies of the certificate or notice of the original location of each claim, and of the certificates of amended or supplemental locations thereof, certified to by the legal custodian of the record of mining locations.
(d) A certificate to an abstract of title must state that the abstract is a full, true, and complete abstract of the location certificates or notices, and all amendments thereof, and of all deeds, instruments, or actions appearing of record purporting to convey or to affect the title to each claim.
(e) The application for patent will be received and filed if the certificate of title or an abstract is brought down to a day reasonably near the date of the presentation of the application and shows full title in the applicant, who must as soon as practicable thereafter file a supplemental certificate of title or an abstract brought down so as to include the date of the filing of the application.
§ 3862.1-4   Evidence relating to destroyed or lost records.
In the event of the mining records in any case having been destroyed by fire or otherwise lost, a statement of the fact should be made, and secondary evidence of possessory title will be received, which may consist of the statement of the claimant, supported by those of any other parties cognizant of the facts relative to his location, occupancy, possession, improvements, etc.; and in such case of lost records, any deeds, certificates of location or purchase, or other evidence which may be in the claimant's possession and tend to establish his claim, should be filed.
§ 3862.1-5   Statement required that land is unreserved, unoccupied, unimproved, and unappropriated.
Each person making application for patent under the mining laws, for lands in Alaska, must furnish a duly corroborated statement showing that no portion of the land applied for is occupied or reserved by the United States, so as to prevent its acquisition under said laws; that the land is not occupied or claimed by natives of Alaska; and that the land is unoccupied, unimproved and unappropriated by any person claiming the same other than the applicant.
§ 3862.2   Citizenship.
§ 3862.2-1   Citizenship of corporations and of associations acting through agents.
The proof necessary to establish the citizenship of applicants for mining patents must be made in the following manner: In case of an incorporated company, a certified copy of its charter or certificate of incorporation must be filed. In case of an association of persons unincorporated, the statement of their duly authorized agent, made upon his own knowledge or upon information and belief, setting forth the residence of each person forming such association, must be submitted. This statement must be accompanied by a power of attorney from the parties forming such association, authorizing the person who makes the citizenship showing to act for them in the matter of their application of patent.
§ 3862.2-2   Citizenship of individuals.
(a) In case of an individual or an association of individuals who do not appear by their duly authorized agent, the statement of each applicant, showing whether he is a native or naturalized citizen, when and where born, and his residence, will be required.
(b) In case an applicant has declared his intention to become a citizen or has been naturalized, his statement must show the date, place, and the court before which he declared his intention, or from which his certificate of citizenship issued, and present residence.
§ 3862.2-3   Trustee to disclose nature of trust.
Any party applying for patent as trustee must disclose fully the nature of the trust and the name of the cestui que trust; and such trustee, as well as the beneficiaries, must furnish satisfactory proof of citizenship; and the names of beneficiaries, as well as that of the trustee, must be inserted in the final certificate of entry.
§ 3862.3   Possessory rights.
§ 3862.3-1   Right by occupancy.
(a) The provisions of R.S. 2332 (30 U.S.C. 38), greatly lessen the burden of proof, more especially in the case of old claims located many years since, the records of which, in many cases, have been destroyed by fire, or lost in other ways during the lapse of time, but concerning the possessory right to which all controversy or litigation has long been settled.
(b) When an applicant desires to make his proof of possessory right in accordance with this provision of law, he will not be required to produce evidence of location, copies of conveyances, or abstracts of title, as in other cases, but will be required to furnish a duly certified copy of the statute of limitation of mining claims for the State, together with his statement giving a clear and succinct narration of the facts as to the origin of his title, and likewise as to the continuation of his possession of the mining ground covered by his application; the area thereof; the nature and extent of the mining that has been done thereon; whether there has been any opposition to his possession, or litigation with regard to his claim, and if so, when the same ceased; whether such cessation was caused by compromise or by judicial decree, and any additional facts within the claimant's knowledge having a direct bearing upon his possession and bona fides which he may desire to submit in support of his claim.
§ 3862.3-2   Certificate of court required.
There should likewise be filed a certificate, under seal of the court having jurisdiction of mining cases within the judicial district embracing the claim, that no suit or action of any character whatever involving the right of possession to any portion of the claim applied for is pending, and that there has been no litigation before said court affecting the title to said claim or any part thereof for a period equal to the time fixed by the statute of limitations for mining claims in the State as aforesaid other than that which has been finally decided in favor of the claimant.
§ 3862.3-3   Corroborative proof required.
The claimant should support his narrative of facts relative to his possession, occupancy, and improvements by corroborative testimony of any disinterested person or persons of credibility who may be cognizant of the facts in the case and are capable of testifying understandingly in the premises.
§ 3862.4   Publication of notice.
§ 3862.4-1   Newspaper publication.
Upon the receipt of applications for mineral patent and accompanying papers, if no reason appears for rejecting the application, the authorized officer will, at the expense of the claimant (who must furnish the agreement of the publisher to hold applicant for patent alone responsible for charges of publication), publish a notice of such application for the period of 60 days in a newspaper published nearest to the claim. If the notice is published in a daily paper, it shall be published in the Wednesday issue for nine consecutive weeks; if weekly, in nine consecutive issues; if semiweekly or triweekly, in the issue of the same day of each week for nine consecutive weeks. In all cases the first day of issues shall be excluded in estimating the period of 60 days.
§ 3862.4-2   Contents of published notice.
The notices published as required by the preceding section must embrace all the data given in the notice posted upon the claim. In addition to such data the published notice must further indicate the locus of the claim by giving the connecting line, as shown by the field notes and plat, between a corner of the claim and a United States mineral monument or a corner of the public survey, and thence the boundaries of the claim by courses and distances.
§ 3862.4-3   Authorized officer to designate newspaper.
The authorized officer shall have the notice of application for patent published in a paper of established character and general circulation, to be by him designated as being the newspaper published nearest the land.
§ 3862.4-4   Charges for publication.
(a) The charge for the publication of notice of application for patent in a mining case in all districts shall not exceed the legal rates allowed by the laws of the several States for the publication of legal notices wherein the notice is published.
(b) It is expected that these notices shall not be so abbreviated as to curtail the description essential to a perfect notice, and on the other hand that they shall not be of unnecessary length. The printed matter must be set solid without paragraphing or any display in the heading and shall be in the usual body type used in legal notices. If other type is used, no allowance will be made for additional space on that account. The number of solid lines only used in advertising by actual count will be allowed. All abbreviations and copy must be strictly followed. The following is a sample of advertisement set up in accordance with Government requirements and contains all the essential data necessary for publication:
M. A. No. 04421, U. S. Land Office, Elko, Nevada, October 5, 1921. Notice is hereby given that the Jarbidge Buhl Mining Company by W. H. Hudson, attorney in fact, of Jarbidge, Nevada, has made application for patent to the Altitude, Altitude No. 1, Altitude No. 3, and Altitude Annex, lode mining claims. Survey No. 4470, in unsurveyed T. 46 N., R. 58 E., M. D. B. and M., in the Jarbidge mining district, Elko County, Nevada, described as follows: Beginning at corner No. 1, Altitude No. 3, whence the quarter corner of the south boundary of sec. 34 T. 46 N., R. 58 E., M. D. B. and M., bears south 41°54′ west 7285.63 feet, thence north 20°14′ west 1500 feet to corner No. 2 of said lode; thence north 69°46′ east 569 feet to corner No. 3 of said lode; thence south 20°14′ east 417.5 feet to corner 2, Altitude No. 1; thence north 69°46′ east 1606.1 feet to corner No. 3, Altitude lode; thence south 20°14′ east 1500 feet, to corner No. 4 of said lode; thence south 69°46′ west 1606.1 feet, to corner No. 1, Altitude No. 1 lode; thence North 20°14′ west 417.5 feet to corner No. 4, Altitude No. 3; thence south 69°46′ west 569 feet to point of beginning. There are no adjoining or conflicting claims. The location notices are recorded in Book 17, pages 373 and 374, and in Book 15, pages 52 and 53, mining locations, Elko County, Nevada, John E. Robbins, Manager.
(c) For the publication of citations in contests or hearings, involving the character of lands, the charges may not exceed the rates provided for similar notices by the law of the State.
§ 3862.4-5   Proof by applicant of publication and posting.
After the 60-day period of newspaper publication has expired, the claimant will furnish from the office of publication a sworn statement that the notice was published for the statutory period, giving the first and last day of such publication, and his own statement showing that the plat and notice aforesaid remained conspicuously posted upon the claim sought to be patented during said 60-day publication, giving the dates.
§ 3862.4-6   Payment of purchase price and statement of charges and fees.
Upon the filing of the statement required by the preceding section, the authorized officer will, if no adverse claim was filed in his office during the period of publication, and no other objection appears, permit the claimant to pay for the land to which he is entitled at the rate of $5 for each acre and $5 for each fractional part of an acre, except as otherwise provided by law, issuing the usual receipt therefor. The claimant will also make a statement of all charges and fees paid by him for publication and surveys, together with all fees and money paid the authorized officer of the proper office, and a patent shall be issued thereon if found regular.
§ 3862.5   Entry and transfers.
§ 3862.5-1   Allowance of entry; transfers subsequent to application not recognized.
No entry will be allowed until the authorized officer has satisfied himself, by careful examination, that proper proofs have been filed upon the points indicated in the law and official regulations. Transfers made subsequent to the filing of the application for patent will not be considered, but entry will be allowed and patent issued in all cases in the name of the applicant for patent, the title conveyed by the patent, of course, in each instance inuring to the transferee of such applicant where a transfer has been made pending the application for patent.
§ 3862.6   Diligent prosecution.
§ 3862.6-1   Failure to prosecute application with diligence.
The failure of an applicant for patent to a mining claim to prosecute his application to completion, by filing the necessary proofs and making payment for the land, within a reasonable time after the expiration of the period of publication of notice of the application, or after the termination of adverse proceedings in the courts, constitutes a waiver by the applicant of all rights obtained by the earlier proceedings upon the application.
§ 3862.7   Application processing upon contest or protest.
§ 3862.7-1   Resumption of patent proceedings after suspension due to adverse claim or protest.
The proceedings necessary to the completion of an application for patent to a mining claim, against which an adverse claim or protest has been filed, if taken by the applicant at the first opportunity afforded therefor under the law and departmental practice, will be as effective as if taken at the date when, but for the adverse claim or protest, the proceedings on the application could have been completed.
§ 3862.8   Patents for mining claims.
§ 3862.8-1   Land descriptions in patents.
The land description in a patent for a lode mining claim, for a millsite, or for a placer claim not consisting of legal subdivisions, shall hereafter consist of the names and survey numbers of the claims being patented and those being excluded, or of the names of the excluded claims if they are unsurveyed, or of the legal subdivisions of excluded land covered by homestead or other nonmineral entry. The land description shall refer to the field notes of survey and the plat thereof for a more particular description and the patent shall expressly make them a part thereof. Where shown by the mineral entry the patent shall give the actual or approximate legal subdivision, section, township and range, the name of the county and of the mining district, if any, wherein the claims are situated. A copy of the plat and field notes of each mineral survey patented will be furnished to the patentee.
§ 3862.9   Public availability of information.
(a) All data and information concerning Federal and Indian minerals submitted under this part 3860 are subject to part 2 of this title. Part 2 of this title includes the regulations of the Department of the Interior covering the public disclosure of data and information contained in Department of the Interior records. Certain mineral information not protected from public disclosure under part 2 of this title may be made available for inspection without a Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) request.
(b) When you submit data and information under this part 3860 that you believe to be exempt from disclosure to the public, you must clearly mark each page that you believe includes confidential information. BLM will keep all data and information confidential to the extent allowed by § 2.13(c) of this title.
§ 3863.1   Placer mining claim patent applications: General.
(a) The proceedings to obtain patents for placer claims, including all forms of mineral deposits excepting veins of quartz or other rock in place, are similar to the proceedings prescribed for obtaining patents for vein or lode claims; but where a placer claim shall be upon surveyed lands, and conforms to legal subdivisions, no further survey or plat will be required. Where placer claims cannot be conformed to legal subdivisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands.
(b) The price of placer claims is fixed at $2.50 per acre or fractional part of an acre.
(c) An applicant for a placer mining claim patent must pay fees as described in § 3860.1.
§ 3863.1-1   Application for patent.
§ 3863.1-2   Proof of improvements for patent.
The proof of improvements must show their value to be not less than $500 and that they were made by the applicant for patent or his grantors. This proof should consist of the statement of two or more disinterested witnesses.
§ 3863.1-3   Data to be filed in support of application.
(a) In placer applications, in addition to the recitals necessary in and to both vein or lode and placer applications, the placer application should contain, in detail, such data as will support the claim that the land applied for is placer ground containing valuable mineral deposits not in vein or lode formation and that title is sought not to control water courses or to obtain valuable timber but in good faith because of the mineral therein. This statement, of course, must depend upon the character of the deposit and the natural features of the ground, but the following details should be covered as fully as possible: If the claim be for a deposit of placer gold, there must be stated the yield per pan, or cubic yard, as shown by prospecting and development work, distance to bedrock, formation and extent of the deposit, and all other facts upon which he bases his allegation that the claim is valuable for its deposits of placer gold. If it be a building stone or other deposit than gold claimed under the placer laws, he must describe fully the kind, nature, and extent of the deposit, stating the reasons why same is by him regarded as a valuable mineral claim. He will also be required to describe fully the natural features of the claim; streams, if any, must be fully described as to their course, amount of water carried, fall within the claim; and he must state kind and amount of timber and other vegetation thereon and adaptability to mining or other uses.
(b) If the claim be all placer ground, that fact must be stated in the application and corroborated by accompanying proofs; if of mixed placers and lodes, it should be so set out, with a description of all known lodes situated within the boundaries of the claim. A specific declaration, such as is required by R.S. 2333 (30 U.S.C. 37) must be furnished as to each lode intended to be claimed. All other known lodes are, by the silence of the applicant, excluded by law from all claim by him, of whatsoever nature, possessory or otherwise.
(c) While these data are required as a part of the mineral surveyor's report in case of placers taken by special survey, it is proper that the application for patent incorporate these facts.
(d) Inasmuch as in case of claims taken by legal subdivisions, no report by a mineral surveyor is required, the claimant, in his application in addition to the data above required, should describe in detail the shafts, cuts, tunnels, or other workings claimed as improvements, giving their dimensions, value, and the course and distance thereof to the nearest corner of the public surveys.
(e) The statement as to the description and value of the improvements must be corroborated by the statements of two disinterested witnesses. The proof showing must be made in duplicate. See 51 L.D. 265 and 52 L.D. 190.
(f) Applications awaiting entry, whether published or not, must be made to conform to this part, with respect to proof as to the character of the land. Entries already made will be suspended for such additional proofs as may be deemed necessary in each case.
§ 3863.1-4   Applications for placers containing known lodes.
Applicants for patent to a placer claim, who are also in possession of a known vein or lode included therein, must state in their application that the placer includes such vein or lode. The published and posted notices must also include such statement. If veins or lodes lying within placer locations are owned by other parties, the fact should be distinctly stated in the application for patent and in all the notices. But in all cases whether the lode is claimed or excluded, it must be surveyed and marked upon the plat, the field notes and plat giving the area of the lode claim or claims and the area of the placer separately. An application which omits to claim such known vein or lode must be construed as a conclusive declaration that the applicant has no right of possession to the vein or lode. Where there is no known lode or vein, the fact must appear by the statement of two or more witnesses.
§ 3864.1   Millsite patents: General.
§ 3864.1-1   Application for patent.
(a) Land entered as a millsite must be shown to be nonmineral. Millsites are simply auxiliary to the working of mineral claims. R.S. 2337 (30 U.S.C. 42) provides for the patenting of millsites.
(b) To avail themselves of this provision of law, parties holding the possessory right to a vein or lode claim, and to a piece of nonmineral land not contiguous thereto for mining or milling purposes, not exceeding the quantity allowed for such purpose by R.S. 2337, or prior laws, under which the land was appropriated, the proprietors of such vein or lode may file in the proper office their application for a patent, which application, together with the plat and field notes, may include, embrace, and describe, in addition to the vein or lode claim, such noncontiguous millsite, and after due proceedings as to notice, etc., a patent will be issued conveying the same as one claim. The owner of a patented lode may, by an independent application, secure a millsite, if good faith is manifest in its use or occupation in connection with the lode and no adverse claim exists.
(c) The Act of March 18, 1960 (74 Stat. 7; 43 U.S.C. 42(b)), amends R.S. 2337 to allow the holders of possessory right in a placer claim to hold nonmineral land for mining, milling, processing beneficiation, or other operations in connection with the placer claim. Applications for patent for such millsites are subject to the same requirements as to survey and notice as one applicable to placer mining claims. No one millsite may exceed five acres and payment will be $2.50 per acre or fraction thereof.
§ 3864.1-2   Millsites applied for in conjunction with a lode claim.
Where the original survey includes a lode claim and also a millsite the lode claim should be described in the plat and field notes as “Sur. No. 37, A,” and the millsite as “Sur. No. 37, B,” or whatever may be its appropriate numerical designation; the course and distance from a corner of the millsite to a corner of the lode claim to be invariably given in such plat and field notes, and a copy of the plat and notice of application for patent must be conspicuously posted upon the millsite as well as upon the vein or lode claim for the statutory period of 60 days. In making the entry no separate receipt or certificate need be issued for the millsite, but the whole area of both lode and millsite will be embraced in one entry, the price being $5 for each acre and fractional part of an acre embraced by such lode and millsite claim.
§ 3864.1-3   Millsites for quartz mills or reduction works.
In case the owner of a quartz mill or reduction works is not the owner or claimant of a vein or lode claim the law permits him to make application therefor in the same manner prescribed for mining claims, and after due notice and proceedings, in the absence of a valid adverse filing, to enter and receive a patent for his millsite at the price named in the preceding section.
§ 3864.1-4   Proof of nonmineral character.
In every case there must be satisfactory proof that the land claimed as a millsite is not mineral in character, which proof may, where the matter is unquestioned, consist of the statement of two or more persons capable, from acquaintance with the land to testify understandingly.
§ 3864.1-5   Fees.
An applicant for a millsite patent must pay fees as described in § 3860.1.