Mineral Survey Procedures Guide, 1980

Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
Mineral Survey Procedures Guide
As the Nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has basic responsibilities for water, fish, wildlife, mineral, land, park, and recreational resources. Indian and Territorial affairs are other major concerns of this department of natural resources.
The Department works to assure the wisest choice in managing all our resources so that each shall make its full contribution to a better United States now and in the future.
1980
This Mineral Survey Procedures Guide does not and is not intended to supersede the Bureau Manual or appropriate Federal, State, or Mining District law which is concerned with mineral surveys and mining claims. The Manual of Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States is the official Bureau of Land Management document regarding mineral surveys, and any real or apparent contradictions with this Guide should be referred to the Manual for final assessment.
Mineral surveys are made to mark the legal boundaries of mineral deposits or ore-bearing formations on the public domain where the boundaries are determined by lines other than the normal subdivision of the public lands. These surveys include the usual surveying technical procedures and the examination and documentation of various reports and certificates necessary to substantiate legal procedures.
Understanding the basis for performance of mineral surveys is imperative for the United States Mineral Surveyors as well as for those who are involved with processing mineral survey returns, those who evaluate claim validity, and for those cadastral surveyors who are involved in retracing original mineral surveys.
This Guide was prepared by John V. Meldrum, U.S. Mineral Surveyor (ret.) under the direction of the Cadastral and Mapping Training Staff, Denver Service Center, Bureau of Land Management. Mr. Meldrum’s many years of expertise in mineral surveys, and his professionalism as a mineral surveyor are invaluable elements of its contents.