“Where one of the boundaries of a patented mining claim is a navigable body of water, all accretions formed after survey and prior to entry and patent of the tract passed under the patent, and all accretions that may thereafter form, become the property of the riparian proprietor.”
Following is an example of a mining claim with a meander line as a boundary taken from Mineral Survey 2154A Alaska. While the notes do not specifically call for meander corners, they do state that the line follows the mean high water mark of Cook Inlet (Figure 2). It is not necessary to monument the intermediate angle points along the meander line, as the example shows.
Should one entire end of a claim be delineated by a meander line, the end line will be protracted parallel to the inland end line at the farthest seaward point for the purpose of determining extralateral rights.
FIG. 2
CHAPTER II
Discovery and Location
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.