Lode Claims
2–1 Discovery: “No lode claim shall be located until after the discovery of a vein or lode within the limits of the claim, the object of which provision is evidently to prevent the appropriation of presumed mineral ground for speculative purposes to the exclusion of bona fide prospectors, before sufficient work has been done to determine whether a vein or lode really exists.” (43 C.F.R. 3841.3–1) Obviously, then, the staking and recording of a claim without a discovery of mineral is to no avail, except that a discovery made prior to intervening rights perfects the location. A claimant diligently trying to make a discovery will generally be protected.
Except for the minerals covered by the Leasing Act (1920), and common varieties which may be acquired under the Materials Act (1947 and 1955), “Whatever is recognized as a mineral by the standard authorities, whether metallic or other substance, when found on public lands in quantity and quality sufficient to render the lands valuable on account thereof, is treated as coming within the purview of the mining laws.” (43 C.F.R. 3812.1)
Whether a mineral should be located as a lode or placer claim depends on the nature of the deposit.
Lodes are deposits of mineral in place, regardless of their origin. The mineral must be firmly contained or embraced in solid rock. This includes veins with distinct hanging and foot walls, replacement deposits in sedimentary formations, ancient stream channels now consolidated in sandstones, such as the uranium deposits of Wyoming, and disseminated deposits such as the copper porphyries of Arizona.
On the other hand, mechanical deposits of minerals such as gold contained in the gravels of stream beds and alluvium deposits are properly located as placer claims. However, certain rock types, such as marble and perlite while mineral in place, are properly located as placers since the Act of 1892 provided for locating building stone under the placer mining laws. Included are bedded minerals not contained in rock in place, such as bentonite.
The discovery requirements for a lode claim are that the mineral must be in place. A discovery of float (a loose piece of ore from a vein) is insufficient. Merely a trace of mineral is insufficient. Discovery by geologic inference is insufficient. There must be an actual and physical exposure of a lode.
The discovery must be on vacant public domain, which includes patented surface lands with minerals reserved to the United States.
There have been many court cases and decisions as to what constitutes the discovery of a valuable mineral deposit and it can be a difficult and complicated matter. The general rule is stated in the famous Castle v. Womble Decision, 19 L.D. 455, 1894: “When minerals have been found and the evidence is of such a character that a person of ordinary prudence would be justified in the further expenditure of his labor and means, with a reasonable prospect of success, in developing a valuable mine, the requirements of the statute have been met.”
In the Jefferson-Montana Copper Mines Co. case, 41 L.D. 320, 1902, it was stated that the following elements of discovery are necessary:
“1. There must be a vein or lode of quartz or other rock in place. 2. The quartz or other rock in place must carry gold or some other valuable mineral deposit. 3. The two preceding elements, when taken together, must be such as to warrant a prudent man in the expenditure of his time and money in the effort to develop a valuable mine.”
The extent of discovery will vary with the situation to be considered and the type of mineral and deposit. For example, the requirement as between two claimants is far less than that between a claimant and the United States. A mineral of intrinsic value such as gold may well be considered under the rules set forth above, but a more common mineral would be further subjected to a test of marketability.
In the course of patent proceedings, a mineral examiner of the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service if the claim is in a national forest or the National Park Service if the claim is in a national park or monument, will make a field investigation to determine the validity of the claims in question.
Each location must be shown to be more valuable for minerals than for any other purpose and the burden of proof rests with the claimant. The claimant must be prepared to show the actual physical discovery and substantiate the value through assays, drill logs, etc.
The discovery need not be on the surface and may be made underground. In the case of blanket (horizontal) veins, the vein may be wider than the claim and discovery can be made anywhere within its boundaries. A discovery showing value and/or marketability may be anywhere within the claim. The discovery may be on the end line of a claim, but a single discovery cannot support more than one claim.
A discovery may be lost by the patenting of a junior claim in conflict, in which case a new discovery is required.
A claim cut in two by a non-mineral patent requires a discovery on each portion of the claim.
A claimant is entitled to possession as against third parties as long as he is diligently engaged in trying to make a discovery.
2–2 Discovery Work: 43 C.F.R. 3841.3–2 states:
“The claimant should, therefore, prior to locating his claim, unless the vein can be traced upon the surface, sink a shaft or run a tunnel or drift to a sufficient depth therein to discovery and develop a mineral-bearing vein, lode or crevice; should determine, if possible, the general course of such vein in either direction from the point of discovery, by which direction he will be governed in marking the boundaries of his claim on the surface.”
Except for the foregoing, the matter of discovery work is left to State law. The general requirement was that the vein (deposit) be disclosed to a depth of ten feet, or deeper if necessary, in a shaft, cut or tunnel. In recent years the tendency is away from requiring discovery work. This was brought about largely through the destruction of the surface by bulldozers digging needless pits or cuts on uranium claims in order to satisfy State law.
Drill holes have also been substituted for the usual shaft, cut or tunnel. In some cases the filing of maps has been substituted for discovery work.
The statutory requirements for each State are given in Chapter I. This chapter and the statutes themselves should be checked for current requirements.
In any event, a discovery point (usually marked by a discovery monument, bearing a notice) should be selected by the claimant from which to recite the dimensions of his claim. If a discovery is made underground, the discovery work requirement is usually met by driving a drift or raise, or sinking a winze on the vein, for ten feet in length; the discovery point is then marked on the surface, with the dip of the vein, if any, projected to the surface.
2–3 Location: 43 C.F.R. 3841.4–1 states: “From and after May 10, 1872, any person ... may locate ... a mining claim 1,500 linear feet along the ... vein ...; or an association of persons ... may make joint location of such claim of 1,500 feet, but in no event can a location of a vein or lode made after May 10, 1872, exceed 1,500 feet along the course thereof....”
43 C.F.R. 3841.4–2 states: “No lode located after May 10, 1872 can exceed a parallelogram 1,500 feet in length by 600 feet in width, but whether surface ground of that width can be taken depends upon the local regulations or State or Territorial laws.... No such local regulations or State or Territorial laws shall limit a vein or lode claim to less than 1,500 feet ... nor can surface rights be limited to less than 50 feet in width....”
DISCOVERY CUT
Excavated by bulldozer, with discovery monument and location notice at the point of discovery.
DISCOVERY DRILL HOLE
Note the discovery monument in the hole and samples of cuttings taken at each 5 feet of depth.
43 C.F.R. 3841.4–3 further states: “With regard to the extent of surface ground ..., the Act of May 10, 1872, provides that the lateral extent of locations of veins or lodes ... shall in no case exceed 300 feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, and that no such surface rights shall be limited by any mining regulations to less than 25 feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface ...; the end lines of such claims to be in all cases parallel to each other ...; and when the locator does not determine by exploration where the middle of the vein at the surface is, his discovery shaft must be assumed to mark such point.”
The only State known to limit the width of claims at present is North Dakota which only allows 150 feet on each side of the vein.
While Wyoming allows the full width, the side lines must be equidistant from the discovery, i.e., a claim may not have 300 feet on one side and 200 feet on the other. Since the federal law limits the size to 300 feet on each side of the vein, if 200 feet is taken on one side, 400 cannot be taken on the other.
The length each way from the point of discovery may be any amount as long as the total does not exceed 1,500 feet.
There is no limit to the number of claims any individual, association or corporation may locate.
Figure 3 shows three different claim patterns, all of which meet federal requirements. Claim A is the usual rectangle with the full length and width, Claim B shows parallel end lines that are not at right angles to the lode line and side lines. While they are longer than 600 feet, the right angle distance on either side of the lode line is exactly 300 feet.
Claim C shows a break in bearing of the lode line at the center of the claim (it could be anywhere on the lode line). Like Claim B, the right angle width does not exceed 300 feet on either side of the center line for any portion of the claim.
Corners may be placed on patented land and on other claims in order to obtain the described pattern and achieve parallel end lines with extralateral rights. If the fee owner objects to monuments, witness corners may be used.
43 C.F.R. 3841.4–4 and 3841.4–5 give the minimum requirements for defining and monumenting locations including the recording of location notices. The laws of the various states elaborate on these requirements giving minimum size of monuments and acceptable materials, specifying the points on the boundaries that shall be monumented, giving the contents required in the location certificates and setting time limits for completing discovery work and recording. (See Chapter I.)
A wood 4″×4″ post at least four feet in length, well set in the ground, makes a good monument. It should be marked on the side facing the claim with the corner number and initial, if not the full name of the claim. Side centers may be marked S/C and end corners E/C, as required.
Discovery monuments are usually marked D.M. The markings can be painted, or scribed with a timber scriber. In a very active area where a number of claims are being staked, claimants often paint the tops of posts with a distinctive color so that they may be readily identified.
A simple way to lay out and monument a single claim is to begin at the discovery point and run out the desired distance each way along the lode line, then turn an angle of 90° and run each way 300 feet to the corners. (See Figure 4.)
A simple way to lay out a block of claims on a bedded deposit is to run out a common set of end lines and at 300 feet or less turn 90° and at 50 feet or less set a discovery monument. Continue this procedure until the end of the area is reached, then complete the survey by running the boundaries so that each corner is located and monumented. (See Figure 4.)
In staking a block of claims it is advisable to make them short of the 600′×1500′ so that minor errors in the location survey will not result in infractions caused by oversize claims.
There is no set rule for numbering corners, clockwise or counterclockwise, except that they be consecutive. In a block of claims corner numbers should be grouped, reducing the number of ties to a section corner or natural object.
While 43 C.F.R. 3841.4–5 calls for a tie to a permanent, well-known point or object from the discovery, a tie from one of the corners is perfectly acceptable. In fact a metes and bounds description with bearings given at least to degrees and distances in feet, should be included in the location certificate. Avoid using such directions as southwesterly, northeasterly, northerly, etc. Acceptable location certificate forms can usually be purchased at a local printer or stationery store.
FIG. 3
FIG. 4
The term “location notice” applies to the notice posted on the claim at the time of discovery. Some states require that a copy of this notice be recorded, while others provide for the filing of a location certificate after all discovery work has been completed and the boundaries monumented. Forms for the location notice, to be followed by the location certificate for Colorado, and a form for a California location notice, where a copy of the notice is recorded, are included in the appendix.