43 C.F.R. Subpart A—Performing Assessment Work
Title 43 - Public Lands: Interior
Title 43: Public Lands: Interior
PART 3836—ANNUAL ASSESSMENT WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR MINING CLAIMS
Subpart A—Performing Assessment Work
§ 3836.10 Performing assessment work.
§ 3836.11 What are the general requirements for performing assessment work?
(a) Beginning in the assessment year that begins after you locate your mining claim, you must expend $100 in labor or improvements for each claim for each assessment year preceding the date on which you file for a small miner waiver.
(b) You may perform assessment work on:
(1) Each individual claim;
(2) One or more claims in a group of contiguous lode or placer claims that you own or hold an interest in and that cover the same mineral deposit; or
(3) Adjacent or nearby lands if the work supports development of the minerals on the claim(s).
(c) Your total expenditure must equal at least $100 per claim.
§ 3836.12 What work qualifies as assessment work?
Assessment work includes, but is not limited to—
(a) Drilling, excavations, driving shafts and tunnels, sampling (geochemical or bulk), road construction on or for the benefit of the mining claim; and
(b) Geological, geochemical, and geophysical surveys.
§ 3836.13 What are geological, geochemical, or geophysical surveys?
(a) Geological surveys are surveys of the geology of mineral deposits. These are done by, among other things, taking mineral samples, mapping rock units, mapping structures, and mapping mineralized zones.
(b) Geochemical surveys are surveys of the chemistry of mineral deposits. They are done by, among other things, sampling soils, waters, and bedrock to identify areas of anomalous mineral values and quantities that may in turn identify mineral deposits.
(c) Geophysical surveys are surveys of the physical characteristics of mineral deposits to measure physical differences between rock types or physical discontinuities in geological formations. These surveys include, among other things, magnetic and electromagnetic surveys, gravity surveys, seismic surveys, and multispectral surveys.
§ 3836.14 What other requirements must geological, geochemical, or geophysical surveys meet to qualify as assessment work?
(a) Qualified experts must conduct the surveys and verify the results in a detailed report filed in the county or recording district office where the claim is recorded. A qualified expert is a geologist or mining engineer qualified by education and experience to conduct geological, geochemical, or geophysical surveys.
(b) You must record the report on the surveys with BLM and the local recording office, as provided in part 3835 of this chapter. This report must set forth fully the following:
(1) The location of the work performed in relation to the point of discovery and boundaries of the claim;
(2) The nature, extent, and cost of the work performed;
(3) The basic findings of the surveys; and
(4) The name, address, and professional background of persons conducting the work and analyzing the data.
(c) You may not count these surveys as assessment work for more than 2 consecutive years or for more than a total of 5 years on any one mining claim.
(d) No survey may repeat any previous survey of the same claim and still qualify as assessment work.
§ 3836.15 What happens if I fail to perform required assessment work?
If you are required to perform assessment work and—
(a) You fail to perform the assessment work as required in this part, your claim is open to relocation by a rival claimant as if no location had ever been made; or
(b) You fail substantially to perform the assessment work as required in this part and the land is withdrawn from mineral entry or the mineral for which the claim was located is no longer subject to the Mining Law, BLM may declare your claim forfeited.
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