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Mining Law/Locatable Minerals

 Mining Law/Locatable Minerals

General Mining Law of 1872
The federal law governing locatable minerals is the General Mining Law of 1872 (May 10, 1872), which declared all valuable mineral deposits in land belonging to the United States to be free and open to citizens of the United States the opportunity to explore for, discover, and purchase certain valuable mineral deposits on public domain minerals.

The General Mining Law of 1872, as amended, has five elements:

1) Discovery of a valuable mineral deposit;
2) Location of mining claims and sites;
3) Recordation of mining claims and sites;
4) Maintenance (annual work/surface management) of mining claims and sites; and
5) Mineral Patents.

The Mining Law Administration program managed by the Bureau of Land Management involves primarily the last three elements: recordation, maintenance (annual work/surface management), and mineral patents. Surface management on National Forest System lands is administered by the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture. The activities associated with the first two elements are carried out by the claimant.

Mining Law/Locatable Minerals

Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA)
This Act did not amend the 1872 law, but did affect the recordation and maintenance of claims. Persons holding existing claims were required to record their claims with BLM by October 1979, and all new claims were required to be recorded with BLM. FLPMA’s purpose was to provide BLM with information on the locations and number of unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites to determine the names and addresses of current owners, and to remove any cloud of title on abandoned claims.

What is a Mining Claim?
A mining claim is a parcel of land for which the claimant has asserted a right of possession and the right to develop and extract a discovered, valuable, mineral deposit. This right does not include exclusive surface rights (see Public Law 84-167).
Locatable minerals include both metallic minerals (gold, silver, lead, etc.) and nonmetallic minerals (fluorspar, asbestos, mica, etc.). It is nearly impossible to list all locatable minerals because of the complex legal requirements for discovery.

Contact the Utah State Office, Bureau of Land Management:

Utah State Office Address:
440 West 200 South, Suite 500
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
  or
PO Box 45155
Salt Lake City, Utah 84145-0155

(801) 539-4001  Fax Machine - (801)539-4237

   
Last updated: 04-30-2008