Arizona miner., 1866-09-12
THE MINERAL BILL.

The following is a copy of the bill as it pas sed Congress and was approved by the Presi- l den including all the amendments that were attached to it:
 SEC l. The mineral lands of the public do. main, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared tO be free and open to explo ration and occupation by all citizens of the United States, and those who have declared their intention to become citizens, subject io such regulations az may be prescribed by law, and subject also to the lo.al custom or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far the same may not be in conflict with tle laws oi the United States.
 ! SCc. 2 And be it further enacted That whenever any person or association of persons claim a vein or lode of quartz, or other TO k | n place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar or cop | per- having previously occupied and improved the same according to the local custom or rules of miners in the district where the same | Is situated, and having expended in actual ! .s5ys =;:a improvements thereon .n an.cnnt uf not less than Sl GOO, and in regard to whose possession there Is no controversy or opposing claim, it shall and may be lawful for sad claimant or association of claimants to file in the local land office a diagram of the sane, so extended lateFally or otherwise as to conform to the local laws, customs and rules of miners. and to enter such tract and receive a patent therefor, granting such mine, toSeth- CT with the right to follow such vein pr lode with its dips, angles and variations to any depth although it may enter .he land adjOin. ing, which land adjoining shall be sold sub ject to this condition
 SEC. 3. And be 1t further enacted, That upon the filing of the diagram as provided in the second section of this act, and posting the same in a conspicuous place on the claim, together with notice of intention to apply for patent, the Register of the Land Ofce shall publish a notice of the same in a news paper published nearest to the location of said claim, and shall also post such notice in his office for the period of ninety days and after the expiration of said period, if no ad- verse claim shall have been filed, it shall be the duty oi the Surveyor General, ul on the application of the party, to survey the prem ises and make plat thereof, endorsed with his approval, designating the number and de- scriptiOn of the location, the value of the la bOr and improvements. and the character of the vein exposed and upon the payment to the proper officer of S Der acre, together with the est .of such survey. plat and no tioe, and giving satisfactory evidence that said diagram and notice have been posted on the elailn during said period of ninety days, the Register of the Land Office shall transmit to the General Land Office said plat, survey and description; and patent shall issue for the same thereupon. But said plat, survey or description shall in no case cover more than one vein or lode, and no patent shall issue for more than one vein or lode, which . sLall be expressed in the patent issued. SEC. 1. And be it further enacted, That when such location and entry of a mine sinai he upon unsurYeyed lands, it shall and may
 be lawful, after the extension thereto of the . public surveys, to al just the surveys to the
 limits of the premises according tO the To a
 ton and possession and plat aforesaid, and . tLe Surveyor General may, in extending the , surveys, vary the same from rectangular
 form to suit the crcumstances of the country and the local rules, laws and customs of min ? CTS; provided, that no location hereafter made shall exceed two hundred feet in ength along the vein for each locator, and with an ] additional claim for discovery to the discoy- i CT of the lode, with the right tO follow such { vein To aTy depth, and with all its dips yaria- D tiOns and angles, together with a reasonable ! quantity of surface for the convenient work [ ing of the same fixed by local rules and
 provided further, that no person may make P more than one lo alton on the same lode, and
 
 , taken in any one claim by any association of
 persons.
 E SEc. ,. Anl be it further snacted, That 1. the President of the United States be, and 1 ne Is hereby authorized to establish addi- lional land districts, and to appoint the ne
 cessary officers under existing laws, wherever r he may deem the same necessary for the pub
 'ic convenience in executing the provisions of this at.
 , SEC 6. And be it further enacted. That whenever any adverse claimants 10 any mine located and claimed as aforesaid shall appear heiOre the approval of the spryey, as provided ,n the third section of this act, all proceed ings shall be stayed until final settlement and adjudication in the Courts of competent jurisdiction of the rights of possession to such claim, when patent may issue as in other cases.
 SEC. :. And be it further enacted, That wherever, prior 10 the passage of this act, up- on the lands heretofore designated as mineral lands, which have been excluded from survey and sale, there have been homesteads made by citizens of the United States, or persons who have declared their intention to become citizens, which hOmesteads have been made, improved and used for agricultural purposes, and upon which there have been no valuable mines of gold, silver, cinnabar or copper dis covered, and which are properly agricultural lands, the said settlers or owners of such homesteads shall have a right of pre- emption thereto, and shall be entitled 10 purchase the same at the price of Sl, ,25 per acre, and in quantity not to exceed l60 acres or said parties may avail themselves of the provisions of the act of Congress approved May 20, 1864, entitled An act 10 secure hornestesds to ac-