The Goldfield news. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1904-1911, 1908-12-19

10 ne suinrftnt. u " "
there is no intention on the part of the
owners to resume active operations
n reasonable time. These last
expenditures, such as tor
roads, trails, buildings, and services of
are near the border line,
and do not possess the unequivoeai
character of actual mine openings and
However, the courts are
inclined to be liberal in their il.er
probation of the statutory requirements,
and any labor performed or improve
ments made in good faith that may,
with any show of reason, tend to de-
vclop the claim, will be considered
favorably.
Sampling or surveying a mine, un-
watering it for purposes of examination
merely, travelling expenses in reaching
it, placing of tools. machinery, or build
ings thereon, without any intention of
using them permanently in actual min
ing operations, dumping failing on a
claim. have all been held insufficient
and not within the spirit of the statute.
The land department has held that a
quartz mill situated on a claim and
built for the benefit of that claim
alone. is not an active agency in the
actual development of the mine, since
il has no connection with the operation
of extracting mineral from the ground,
but its function begins only when the
process of mining has ceased. While
the question involved was the suffi-
of improvements for patent pur-
poses, the analogy would seem to gov
crn i'm the matter of annual labor as
well. This is an extreme refinement of
the rule. If subjected to the same rigid
test. many improvements that are now
admittedly sufficient would be ruled
out. The courts are inclined to look to
rather than shadow. and
where good faith on the part of the
mine owner is evident, they construc
the law literally and give him the bcne-
nit of any doubt. They are not inclined
TO be as technical in their rulings on
the question of labor and improvements
is the land department in patent pro-
eeedings.
Group Work
Oftentimes it would be a waste of
labor to perform 800 worth of work
each one of a group of claims held
in ommon The natural and economic
way to develop such a group of claims
might probably be by means of a main
adit or shaft, or, in the ease of plaeers,
by a fiume, ditch, or reservoir, con
for their common benefit. I'm
der such circumstances it is permissible
to perform all of the work, to the
amount of 800 for each and every
claim to be benefited thereby, on one or
more claims of the group, or, in special
eases, outside Of the group. The work
must be of such a character as actually
to benefit cachiclaim for which it was
performed. For example, work on an
adit, the portal of which is higher in
elevation than some of the claims in
the group, would not ordinarily benefit
such lower claims. As a rule, the
claims must be contiguous, and there
must be some community of interest in
all of the claims.
BY special act passed in 1908, con
gress provided that "The annual as
scssmcn labor upon (oil-placer mining)
claims may be done upon any ono of a
group of claims lying contiguous and
owned by the same person or corpora
ton, not exceeding five claims in all:
Provided, That said labor will tend to
the development or to determine the
oil bearing character of such contiguous
Claims
In the case of association placer
claims only 800 worth of labor is re-
auircd on each claim, which can not, of
coarse, exceed 100 acres in area.
Annual Labor, How Valued?
The statute is clear on the point that
800 worth of labor or improvements is
required each year, commencing with
the year following the location. A
question some times arises as to what
constitutes 800 worth of work. There
are some district regulations and state
statutes specifying the value of a days
work, but it is unquestiOnable whether
these are valid. The value of a day IS
labor and of the material used naturally
varies with the locality. The courts
have held that the test is the reason
able value of the work or improve
mcnts, not what was paid for it nor
what the contract price was. The actual
value is the true test, though what was
paid for the work is strongly persuasive
to value, and tends to establish the
good faith of the claimant.
Proof of Annual Labor
Many states have statutes requiring
claimants to record aflidavits to the eff
feet that the annual labor has been per-
formed, and setting forth the nature
and value of the work. No serious con-
can result from a failure to
with these requirements, though
.. --sxl