Processing the Survey
5–12 Preliminary Examination of Field Notes: The examination of the survey may begin by reading the notes and comparing them with the preliminary plat. As a general rule the mineral surveyor will write the notes from the plat. If inconsistencies appear, they will usually be typographical errors in the notes. However, this must be verified by the mineral surveyor.
Particular attention should be given to the format as shown by the specimen notes of the Manual of Surveying Instructions, 1973.
Corner descriptions must be proper and adequate. Ties should agree with the preliminary plat. Discovery points must be on public domain.
By posting the mineral survey to the connecting sheet or similar plat with a pencil, conflicts and other surveys within 100 feet may be determined.
The names of the locations must agree with those given in the location certificates. End lines must be parallel and the statutory length and width cannot be exceeded. Improvements should be fairly valued; the discovery point should agree with that given in the location certificate; common improvements should be correctly described and all claims benefiting therefrom should share equally. The geographic position of one corner of the survey must be given. Under “LOCATION” the correct section, township and range should be given.
It should be stated that the survey is identical with the location as marked on the ground. If not identical, it should be so stated, and ties to location monuments must be given.
The section corner tie may not exceed two miles from the nearest corner of the survey. Intersections with the lode lines and distances along the lode line to the discovery point must be given. (Exception: bedded deposits.) The bearing of the lode line, if different from the side lines, must be shown on the plat.
Reports on former surveys should be checked against the notes of these surveys. The bearings and distances of lines of former surveys that are wholly within the survey or a claim of the survey must be given.
The area statement should be reviewed to make certain that conflicts are given in chronological order and that any exclusion or combination of exclusions can be ascertained.
The magnetic declination must be given. The beginning and completion dates of the survey must be given. The survey cannot begin prior to the date of order.
5–13 Calculations: Calculations may begin by computing the solar observation; the declination should be verified, also the latitude and longitude. The survey should close. Lode claims should have a perfect closure; irregular claims such as placers should close within 0.5 feet in 1,000 feet. The statutory length and width of lode claims may not be exceeded. The width at right angles to the lode cannot exceed 300 feet on either side. The section corner ties within the survey may be checked by closure, using short ties between claims of the survey; each section tie and short tie should be used in at least one closure. The closures should not exceed 0.5 feet in 1,000 feet. (It may be necessary to report the longer section ties to an even number of seconds such as 15″.)
The section corner ties should be checked against those given in conflicting surveys using the short ties given to these claims along with the reported boundaries. Such closures, depending on the length of the ties, should not exceed 10 feet. If they do exceed this distance, the correct tie should be given under “OTHER CORNER DESCRIPTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL DATA” provided that the corner from which the tie was made was recovered. If the corner was not found, the error cannot be reported. The same applies to short ties between conflicting surveys, but the allowable error should be within the 1:2000 limit. If more than one section corner is tied, the bearing and distance along the section line should be checked, reporting any appreciable difference under “OTHER CORNER DESCRIPTIONS AND SUPPLEMENTAL DATA.”
The bearings and distances of intersections with lines of prior surveys should be correctly stated. This may be verified by closure, but if a closure of 1:2000 is not obtained, it will be necessary to calculate the intersections by solving triangles, to determine where the error lies. Such intersections should check with 0.2 feet.
From the intersections obtained, the areas of conflict should next be calculated. If the final plat is drawn at a scale of 1″ = 200′, conflicts with a conflict, i.e. double conflicts, may be checked by dividing the area of conflict into triangles and scaling the base and altitude. The mineral surveyor, however, must actually calculate these areas. All areas should check within 0.02 acres.
5–14 Platting Procedures: The lines of the survey are shown heavier than those of former surveys so that the locations of the survey will stand out.
All corners recovered or set are shown with a circle to distinguish them from corners not found.
The lode line is shown as a broken line and if parallel to the side lines, only the distance each way from the discovery point is shown; if not parallel, then the bearing must also be shown. The bearings and total distances of the lines of the survey are shown heavier than those of conflicting surveys and intersections along such lines.
The names of the locations of the survey shall be shown in vertical capital letters and be larger and heavier than those of conflicting surveys, which shall be shown in upper and lower case.
Distances to intersections along the line of survey should be shown before the intersection. Intersections with lines of prior surveys are given preference over topographic items. Where space will not permit the showing of a distance, it may be placed above a prior distance, with the first distance shown next to the line.
Bearings of conflicting surveys are usually shown in the direction of the line between corners as surveyed; i.e., from corner 1 to corner 2, etc. Bearings and distances in all cases should be shown along the line they pertain to. Bearings of ties should be shown in the direction from the corner from which the tie was made. Ties will be shown with light broken lines. If there is not room to place the bearing and distance next to the line, it may be placed on an arrow.
All bearings and distances shall be in slant lettering. Witness corners are shown with a circle and labeled W.C. Cor. No.——, provided they are on a line of the survey. If not on line they are shown with a tie.
Surveyed section lines and surveyed subdivision of section lines are shown by solid lines; unsurveyed lines are shown with a broken line.
Designation of subdivisions, Township and Range should be vertical letters. The discovery workings and all other improvements are labeled; they may be numbered to agree with the field notes. It is not necessary to give a tie to the improvements, except a common improvement tunnel, shaft, etc.
The title block shown on the specimen plat in the Manual of Surveying Instructions should be closely followed. While the plat scale is usually 200 feet to an inch, it may be smaller to accommodate several claims, provided the necessary data can be shown. Where more than one sheet is necessary, only the final sheet need have a title block. All sheets should carry the survey number and state that it is sheet No. —— of —— sheets.
When the plat is finished it should be compared with the field notes. This can be done by two people, one reading the notes and the other following the plat; or two people can independently do the comparing. If rough draft notes were submitted by the mineral surveyor, they should be returned to him with the corrections for final typing, and execution of the “Certificate of Surveyor,” current Form 3860–7.
The final typing will consist of the original set on current Form 9180–21, which is bound on the left, with two carbon copies on current Form 9180–22, which is bound at the top; this may vary with state office practice. (Xerox or similar copies are not acceptable.)
5–15 Approval of Survey: The lower portion of current Form 3860–7, “Certificate of Surveyor,” contains the certificate of approval to be signed by an officer of the Bureau of Land Management. This may be the State Director or he may delegate this authority to the Chief, Division or Branch of Cadastral Surveys, for that state. He should also sign the certificate of transcript for the two carbon copies.
Current Form 3860–8, certifying $500 expenditure, must also be executed by the above authorized officer and attached to the copy of the field notes that will be filed with the application for patent. If $500 has not been expended, it is the claimant’s responsibility to complete the work and have the certificate executed and filed with the BLM Branch of Land and Minerals (land office) prior to the expiration of the period of publication.
If the survey has been properly executed and shows the facts, the State Director cannot refuse to approve the survey because he feels that the claim is invalid. (See 57 I.D. 63, Raymond E. Johnson, 1939.)
The original field notes and plat are then placed in the open files of the Bureau of Land Management. The location certificates are to be included with the notes. The two transcripts of the field notes together with two cloth backed copies, one of which has been waterproofed for posting, and a plain paper copy of the plat, will then be furnished the claimant. An additional copy for posting will be furnished if a mill site is included in the survey.
One set of the notes and one copy of the plat will be used to support the application for patent. Current Form 3860–4, is used to notify the State Branch of Land and Minerals and the Director, Bureau of Land Management, of the approval of the survey and includes a sketch of the survey. This form is also used to notify the Regional Forester if the survey is on a National Forest.
The mineral surveyor should be notified by letter of the approval of the survey and he should be furnished a paper copy of the plat and requested to examine it at his early convenience. (See appendix for copies of forms.)