New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 2 - STATE TRUST LANDS PART 24 CULTURAL PROPERTIES PROTECTION › Part 2 - LEASING FOR GENERAL MINING › Section 19.2.2.7 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
As used in 19.2.2 NMAC, the following terms have the meaning
				  set forth in this section unless otherwise indicated in the text of this
				  rule.
A. "arm's-length sales price"
				means the sales price resulting from a good faith sale of minerals between an
				unaffiliated seller and buyer who have comparable negotiating power, the seller
				being under no obligation to sell and the buyer being under no obligation to
				purchase. Where minerals are not actually sold in an arm's-length transaction,
				the arm's-length sales price shall be estimated by the lessee, using methods
				approved by the commissioner, in accordance with Sections
				55-2-723
				& 724, NMSA 1978 of the New Mexico Uniform Commercial Code or other
				comparable method.
B.
				"commissioner" means the commissioner of public lands. The commissioner is the
				executive officer of the NMSLO and may delegate to NMSLO staff the performance
				of duties required of the commissioner under this rule.
C. "comparable law" means a federal, state or
				local regulatory program that the commissioner determines, in writing, is
				applicable to mining activity and which will, as a practical matter, assure
				reclamation of trust surface estate to substantially the same standard required
				under the New Mexico Mining Act. The issue of whether a given regulatory
				program constitutes comparable law will arise only where the mining activity in
				question is not regulated under the New Mexico Mining Act.
D. "contiguous" means adjoining and having at
				least one common side or boundary.
E. "financial assurance" means a bond,
				surety, letter of credit, certificate of deposit or other instrument obtained
				for the purpose of guarantying performance of an obligation.
F. "lease or mineral lease" means a lease
				issued under this 19.2.2 NMAC that must be obtained prior to exploring for,
				extracting or producing minerals.
G. "legal subdivision" means legal
				subdivision as used and recognized by the federal bureau of land management and
				the NMSLO, ordinarily consisting of forty acres, more or less, or one sixteenth
				part of a standard section, including lots as designated by the U.S. survey
				plats.
H. "lessee" means the
				persons who, according to the records of the NMSLO, are contractually obligated
				to the commissioner under a mineral lease. "Lessee" includes the lessee's
				successors in interest and approved assignees of the lease.
I. "mine developmentplan" means a written
				plan that provides for the efficient and orderly development of mineral
				reserves and prevention of waste of surface and subsurface resources within the
				commissioner's jurisdiction.
J.
				"minerals" means all natural substances within the commissioner's jurisdiction
				that can be extracted, taken or otherwise derived from the earth, except as
				expressly excluded hereunder.
Exclusions
: For purposes
				of 19.2.2 NMAC, "mineral" does not include potassium, sodium, sulfur,
				phosphorus, common salt, oil and gas, coal, shale, clay, gravel, building
				stone, and building materials, including gypsum, timber or any material leased
				or disposed of under another rule issued by the commissioner.
K. "mining activity" means, except as
				excluded hereunder, any activity that satisfies the following two-part test.
				First, the activity physically or chemically disturbs or alters lands, minerals
				or other resources within the commissioner's jurisdiction. Second, the purpose
				of the activity is to explore for, extract and/or produce minerals, or the
				activity is incidental to or related to such exploration, extraction and/or
				production.
Exclusions
: "mining activity" does not
				include any activity authorized and carried out pursuant to other rules issued
				by the commissioner.
L. "mining and
				minerals division or MMD" means the mining and minerals division of the New
				Mexico department of energy, minerals and natural resources, or any successor
				agency that may become responsible for enforcing the New Mexico Mining
				Act.
M. "New Mexico Mining Act or
				Mining Act" means the New Mexico Mining Act, Section
				69-36-1
et seq.
NMSA 1978.
N. "NMSLO" means the state land office
				created by Section
				19-1-1
				NMSA 1978, the executive officer of which is the commissioner.
O. "paying quantities" means the quantity of
				minerals that must be produced from the premises and sold in a given lease year
				to carry on a profitable mining operation on the premises. For purposes of this
				rule, "paying quantities" does not include minerals extracted from outside the
				premises, even though such lands may comprise part of the same overall mining
				operation.
P. "permitting agency"
				means MMD or, if the New Mexico Mining Act is not applicable to the mine site
				at issue, the government agency or agencies responsible for enforcing
				comparable law, if any.
Q.
				"premises" means the lands encumbered by the mineral lease as originally issued
				and described therein.
R.
				"production" means any extraction of minerals by any means whatsoever, except
				as expressly excluded hereunder.
Exclusions
:
				"production" does not include: (1) the extraction of minerals for the purpose
				of exploring, testing or sampling, unless these minerals are beneficially used
				or sold or otherwise disposed of for value; or (2) the removal of overburden,
				waste rock, matrix or host rock, soil or the like, unless minerals derived from
				these materials are beneficially used, sold or otherwise disposed of for
				value.
S. "reclamation plan" means
				a written document approved by the commissioner that consists of: (1) the
				mining permit(s) issued by the permitting agency, and (2) any additional
				requirements deemed necessary by the commissioner
.
As used
				herein, "reclamation plan" includes the original reclamation plan and any
				additional plans approved by the commissioner.
T. "Schedule of fees" means a list of fees
				that must be paid for performance of certain administrative functions . The
				schedule of fees shall be published on the state land office website and is
				subject to change at the discretion of the commissioner. Unless otherwise noted
				in the schedule of fees or in this rule, the fee shall be non-refundable.
U. "special minerals" means rare
				earth minerals, precious and semi-precious stones, uranium, thorium or any
				other minerals which have been or may hereafter be determined to be essential
				to the production of fissionable materials.
V. "trust" means the trust created by
				congress under the New Mexico Enabling Act of June 20, 1910, and accepted by
				the state of New Mexico under Articles XIII and XIV of the New Mexico
				Constitution.
W. "trust surface
				estate" means "public lands of the state," as identified in Article XIII,
				Section 1 of the New Mexico Constitution, in which the state holds legal title
				to the surface estate. "Trust surface estate" includes "public lands of the
				state" that are subject to a purchase contract until the commissioner issues
				the patent conveying the state's legal interest therein to the contract
				purchaser.