An Act to provide relief for residential occupants of unpatented mining claims upon which valuable improvements have been placed, and for other purposes.
PL 87-851 (S.3451), enacted 10/23/1962

76 STAT.] 
PUBLIC LAW 87-851-OCT. 23, 1962 
1127 
Public Law 87-851 
AN A C T 
October 23, 1962 
To provide relief for residential occupants of unpatented mining claims upon 
[S. 3451] 
which valuable improvements have been placed, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the Secretary 
occupants o
f 
of the Interior may convey to any occupant of an unpatented mining ""J'^g"'*'^ mining 
claim which is determined by the Secretary to be invalid an interest, 
Land*convey-
up to and including a fee simple, in and to an area within the claim of ances. 
not more than (a) five acres or (b) the acreage actually occupied by 
him, whichever is less. The Secretary may make a liKe conveyance 
to any occupant of an unpatented mining claim who, after notice from 
a qualified officer of the United States that the claim is believed to be 
invalid, relinquishes to the United States all right in and to such claim 
which he may have under the mining laws. Any conveyance author-
ized by this section, however, shall be made only to a qualified appli-
cant, as that term is defined in section 2 of this Act, who applies there-
for within five years from the date of this Act and upon payment of 
an amount established in accordance with section 5 of this Act. 
As used in this section, the term "qualified officer of the United 
"Qualified 
States" means the Secretary of the Interior or an employee of the ^^^^V, °^ *
*
^
* 
Department of the Interior so designated by him: Provided, 
That 
the Secretary may delegate his authority to designate qualified officers 
to the head of any other department or agency of the United States 
with respect to lands within the administrative jurisdiction of that 
department or agency. 
SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act a qualified applicant is a resi- 
"Qualified 
dential occupant-owner, as of the date of enactment of this Act, of ^PPI^^^^"''" 
valuable improvements in an unpatented mining claim which consti-
tute for him a principal place of residence and which he and his 
predecessors in interest were in possession of for not less than seven 
years prior to July 23,1962. 
SEC. 8. Where the lands for which application is made under section 
1 of this Act have been withdrawn in aid of a function of a Federal 
department or agency other than the Department of the Interior, or 
of a State, county, municipality, water district, or other local govern-
mental subdivision or agency, the Secretary of the Interior may convey 
an interest therein only with the consent of the head of the govern-
mental unit concerned and under such terms and conditions as said 
head may deem necessary. 
SEC. 4. (a) If the Secretary of the Interior determines that convey- 
Purchase o
f 
ance of an interest under section 1 of this Act is otherwise justified substitute lands, 
but the consent required by section 3 of this Act is not given, he may, 
in accordance with such procedural rules and regulations as he may 
prescribe, grant the applicant a right to purchase, for residential use, 
an interest in another tract of land, five acres or less in area, from 
tracts made available by him for sale under this Act (1) from the 
unappropriated and unreserved lands of the United States, or (2) 
from lands subject to classification under section 7 of the Taylor Graz-
ing Act (48 Stat. 1272), as amended (43 U.S.C. 315f). 
Said right 
49 stat. i976. 
shall not be granted until arrangements satisfactory to the Secretary 
have been made for termination of the applicant's occupancy of his 
unpatented mining claim and for settlement of any liability for the 
unauthorized use thereof which may have been incurred and shall 
expire five years from the date on which it was granted unless sooner 
exercised. 
The amount to be paid for the interest shall be determined 
in accordance with section 5 of this Act. 
1128 
PUBLIC LAW 87-851-OCT. 23, 1962 
[76 STAT. 
Pxarchase price. 
Determination. 
Occupant's 
liabilities. 
Reservation of 
mineral rights. 
64 Stat. 5 71. 
Disposition of 
fees, etc. 
(b) Any conveyance of less than a fee made under this Act shall 
include provision for removal from the tract of any improvements or 
other property of the applicant at the close of the period for which 
the conveyance is made, or if it be an interest terminating on the death, 
of the applicant, within one year thereafter. 
SEC. 5. The Secretary of the Interior, prior to any conveyance under 
this Act, shall determine the fair market value of the interest to be 
conveyed, exclusive of the value of any improvements placed on the 
lands involved by the applicant or his predecessoi-s in interest. 
Said 
value shall be determined as of the date of appraisal. In establishing 
the purchase price to be paid by the applicant for the interest, the 
Secretary shall take into consideration any equities of the applicant 
and his predecessors in interest, including conditions of prior use and 
occupancy. 
In any event the purchase price for any interest conveyed 
shall not exceed its fair market value nor be less than $5 per acre. The 
Secretary may, in his discretion, allow payment to be made in install-
ments. 
SEC. 6. (a) The execution of a conveyance as authorized by section 
1 of this Act shall not relieve any occupant of the land conveyed of any 
liability, existing on the date of said conveyance, to the United States 
for unauthorized use of the land in and to which an interest is 
conveyed. 
(b) Except where a mining claim embracing land applied for under 
this Act by a qualified applicant was located at a time when the land 
included therein was withdrawn or otherwise not subject to such loca-
tion, no trespass charges shall be sought or collected by the United 
States from any qualified applicant who has filed an application for 
land in the mining claini pursuant to this Act, based upon occupancy 
of such claim, whether residential or otherwise, for any period pre-
ceding the final administrative determination of the invalidity of the 
mining claim by the Secretary of the Interior or the voluntary relin-
quishment of the mining claim, whichever occurs earlier. 
Nothing 
contained in this Act shall be construed as creating any liability for 
trespass to the United States which would not exist in the absence of 
this Act. 
Relief under this section shall be limited to persons who file 
applications for conveyances pursuant to section 1 of this Act within 
five years from the date of its enactment. 
SEC. 7. In any conveyance under this Act the mineral interests of the 
United States in the lands conveyed are hereby reserved for the term 
of the estate conveyed. 
Minerals locatable under the mining laws or 
disposable under the Act of July 31, 1947 (61 Stat. 681), as amended 
(30 U.S.C. 601-604), are hereby withdrawn from all forms of entry 
and appropriation for the term of the estate. The underlying oil, 
gas and other leasable minerals of the United States are hereby 
reserved for exploration and development purposes, but without the 
right of surface ingress and egress, and may be leased by the Secretary 
under the mineral leasing laws. 
SEC. 8. Rights and privileges to qualify as an applicant under this 
Act shall not be assignable, but may pass through devise or descent. 
SEC. 9. Payments of filing fees and survey costs, and the payments 
of the purchase price for patents in fee shall be disposed of by the 
Secretary of the Interior as are such fees, costs, and purchase prices 
in the disposition of public lands. All payments and fees for occu-
pancy in conveyances of less than the fee, or for permits for life or 
shorter periods, shall be disposed of by the administering department 
or agency as are other receipts for the use of the lands involved. 
Approved October 23, 1962.