Page 115 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 612

ments of Agriculture and the Interior under this subchapter to Federal Inspector of Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System,

and subsequent transfer to Secretary of Energy, see

note set out under section 601 of this title.

ADMISSION OF ALASKA AS STATE

Admission of Alaska into the Union was accomplished Jan. 3, 1959, on issuance of Proc. No. 3269, Jan.

3, 1959, 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c16, as required by sections

1 and 8(c) of Pub. L. 85–508, July 7, 1958, 72 Stat. 339, set

out as notes preceding section 21 of Title 48, Territories

and Insular Possessions.

SUBCHAPTER II—MINING LOCATIONS

§ 611. Common varieties of sand, stone, gravel,

pumice, pumicite, or cinders, and petrified

wood

No deposit of common varieties of sand, stone,

gravel, pumice, pumicite, or cinders and no deposit of petrified wood shall be deemed a valuable mineral deposit within the meaning of the

mining laws of the United States so as to give

effective validity to any mining claim hereafter

located under such mining laws: Provided, however, That nothing herein shall affect the validity of any mining location based upon discovery

of some other mineral occurring in or in association with such a deposit. ‘‘Common varieties’’ as

used in this subchapter and sections 601 and 603

of this title does not include deposits of such

materials which are valuable because the deposit has some property giving it distinct and

special value and does not include so-called

‘‘block pumice’’ which occurs in nature in pieces

having one dimension of two inches or more.

‘‘Petrified wood’’ as used in this subchapter and

sections 601 and 603 of this title means agatized,

opalized, petrified, or silicified wood, or any material formed by the replacement of wood by

silica or other matter.

(July 23, 1955, ch. 375, §3, 69 Stat. 368; Pub. L.

87–713, §1, Sept. 28, 1962, 76 Stat. 652.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

The mining laws of the United States, referred to in

text, are classified generally to this title.

AMENDMENTS

1962—Pub. L. 87–713 defined ‘‘petrified wood’’, and provided that no deposit of petrified wood shall be deemed

a valuable mineral deposit within the mining laws of

the United States.

REGULATIONS FOR REMOVAL OF LIMITED QUANTITIES OF

PETRIFIED WOOD

Section 2 of Pub. L. 87–713 provided that: ‘‘The Secretary of the Interior shall provide by regulation that

limited quantities of petrified wood may be removed

without charge from those public lands which he shall

specify.’’

§ 612. Unpatented mining claims

(a) Prospecting, mining or processing operations

Any mining claim hereafter located under the

mining laws of the United States shall not be

used, prior to issuance of patent therefor, for

any purposes other than prospecting, mining or

processing operations and uses reasonably incident thereto.

(b) Reservations in the United States to use of

the surface and surface resources

Rights under any mining claim hereafter located under the mining laws of the United

States shall be subject, prior to issuance of patent therefor, to the right of the United States to

manage and dispose of the vegetative surface resources thereof and to manage other surface resources thereof (except mineral deposits subject

to location under the mining laws of the United

States). Any such mining claim shall also be

subject, prior to issuance of patent therefor, to

the right of the United States, its permittees,

and licensees, to use so much of the surface

thereof as may be necessary for such purposes or

for access to adjacent land: Provided, however,

That any use of the surface of any such mining

claim by the United States, its permittees or licensees, shall be such as not to endanger or materially interfere with prospecting, mining or

processing operations or uses reasonably incident thereto: Provided further, That if at any

time the locator requires more timber for his

mining operations than is available to him from

the claim after disposition of timber therefrom

by the United States, subsequent to the location

of the claim, he shall be entitled, free of charge,

to be supplied with timber for such requirements from the nearest timber administered by

the disposing agency which is ready for harvesting under the rules and regulations of that agency and which is substantially equivalent in kind

and quantity to the timber estimated by the disposing agency to have been disposed of from the

claim: Provided further, That nothing in this subchapter and sections 601 and 603 of this title

shall be construed as affecting or intended to affect or in any way interfere with or modify the

laws of the States which lie wholly or in part

westward of the ninety-eighth meridian relating

to the ownership, control, appropriation, use,

and distribution of ground or surface waters

within any unpatented mining claim.

(c) Severance or removal of timber

Except to the extent required for the mining

claimant’s prospecting, mining or processing operations and uses reasonably incident thereto,

or for the construction of buildings or structures

in connection therewith, or to provide clearance

for such operations or uses, or to the extent authorized by the United States, no claimant of

any mining claim hereafter located under the

mining laws of the United States shall, prior to

issuance of patent therefor, sever, remove, or

use any vegetative or other surface resources

thereof which are subject to management or disposition by the United States under subsection

(b) of this section. Any severance or removal of

timber which is permitted under the exceptions

of the preceding sentence, other than severance

or removal to provide clearance, shall be in accordance with sound principles of forest management.

(July 23, 1955, ch. 375, §4, 69 Stat. 368.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

The mining laws of the United States, referred to in

text, are classified generally to this title.