43 C.F.R. Subpart 3861—Surveys and Plats
Title 43 - Public Lands: Interior
Source: 35 FR 9754, June 13, 1970, unless otherwise noted.
Title 43: Public Lands: Interior
PART 3860—MINERAL PATENT APPLICATIONS
Subpart 3861—Surveys and Plats
§ 3861.1 Surveys of mining claims.
§ 3861.1-1 Application for survey.
The claimant is required, in the first place, to have a correct survey of his claim made under authority of the proper cadastral engineer, such survey to show with accuracy the exterior surface boundaries of the claim, which boundaries are required to be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground. He is required to have a correct survey where patent is applied for and where the mining claim is in vein or lode formation, or covers lands not surveyed in accordance with the U.S. system of rectangular surveys, or where the mining claim fails to conform with the legal subdivisions of the federal surveys. Application for authorization of survey should be made to the appropriate land office (see §1821.2–1 of this chapter).
[Circ. 2220, 31 FR 16785, Dec. 31, 1966]
§ 3861.1-2 Survey must be made subsequent to recording notice of location.
The survey and plat of mineral claims required to be filed in the proper office with application for patent must be made subsequent to the recording of the location of the claim (if the laws of the State or the regulations of the mining district require the notice of location to be recorded), and when the original location is made by survey of a mineral surveyor such location survey cannot be substituted for that required by the statute, as above indicated. All matters relating to the duties of mineral surveyors, and to the field and office procedure to be observed in the execution of mineral surveys, are set forth in Chapter X of the Manual of Instructions for the Survey of the Public Lands of the United States, 1947.
§ 3861.1-3 Plats and field notes of mineral surveys.
When the patent is issued, one copy of the plat and field notes shall accompany the patent and be delivered to the patentee.
§ 3861.2 Surveys: Specific.
§ 3861.2-1 Particulars to be observed in mineral surveys.
(a) The following particulars should be observed in the survey of every mining claim:
(1) The exterior boundaries of the claim, the number of feet claimed along the vein, and, as nearly as can be ascertained, the direction of the vein, and the number of feet claimed on the vein in each direction from the point of discovery or other well-defined place on the claim should be represented on the plat of survey and in the field notes.
(2) The intersection of the lines of the survey with the lines of conflicting prior surveys should be noted in the field notes and represented upon the plat.
(3) Conflicts with unsurveyed claims, where the applicant for survey does not claim the area in conflict, should be shown by actual survey.
(4) The total area of the claim embraced by the exterior boundaries should be stated, and also the area in conflict with each intersecting survey, substantially as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Acres------------------------------------------------------------------------Total area of claim............................................. 10.50Area in conflict with survey No. 302............................ 1.56Area in conflict with survey No. 948............................ 2.33Area in conflict with Mountain Maid lode mining claim, 1.48 unsurveyed.....................................................------------------------------------------------------------------------
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(b) It does not follow that because mining surveys are required to exhibit all conflicts with prior surveys the area of conflict with prior surveys the area of conflict are to be excluded. The field notes and plat are made a part of the application for patent, and care should be taken that the description does not inadvertently exclude portions intended to be retained. The application for patent should state the portions to be excluded in express terms. § 3861.2-2 Certificate of expenditures and improvements.(a) The claimant at the time of filing the application for patent, or at any time within the 60 days of publication, is required to file with the authorized officer a certificate of the office cadastral engineer that not less than $500 worth of labor has been expended or improvements made, by the applicant or his grantors, upon each location embraced in the application, or if the application embraces several contiguous locations held in common, that an amount equal to $500 for each location has been so expended upon, and for the benefit of, the entire group; that the plat filed by the claimant is correct; that the field notes of the survey, as filed, furnish such an accurate description of the claim as will, if incorporation in a patent, serve to identify the premises fully, and that such reference is made therein to natural objects or permanent monuments as will perpetuate and fix the locus thereof. (b) In case of a lode and mill-site claim in the same survey the expenditure of $500 must be shown upon the lode claim. § 3861.2-3 Mineral surveyor's report of expenditures and improvements.(a) In the mineral surveyor's report of the value of the improvements all actual expenditures and mining improvements made by the claimant or his grantors, having a direct relation to the development of the claim, must be included in the estimate. (b) The expenditures required may be made from the surface or in running a tunnel, drifts, or crosscuts for the development of the claim. Expenditures for drill holes for the purpose of prospecting and securing data upon which further development of a group of lode mining claims held in common may be based are available toward meeting the statutory provision requiring an expenditure of $500 as a basis for patent as to all of the claims of the group situated in close proximity to such common improvement. Improvements of any other character, such as buildings, machinery, or roadways, must be excluded from the estimate, unless it is shown clearly that they are associated with actual excavations, such as cuts, tunnels, shafts, etc., are essential to the practical development of and actually facilitate the extraction of mineral from the claim. (c) Improvements made by a former locator who has abandoned his claim cannot be included in the estimate, but should be described and located in the notes and plat. § 3861.2-4 Supplemental proof of expenditures and improvements.If the value of the labor and improvements upon a mineral claim is less than $500 at the time of survey the mineral surveyor may file with the cadastral engineer supplemental proof showing $500 expenditure made prior to the expiration of the period of publication. § 3861.2-5 Amended mineral surveys.(a) Inasmuch as amended surveys are ordered only by special instructions from the Bureau of Land Management, and the conditions and circumstances peculiar to each separate case and the object sought by the required amendment, alone govern all special matters relative to the manner of making such survey and the form and subject matter to be embraced in the field notes thereof, but few general rules applicable to all cases can be laid down. (b) The expense of amended surveys, including amendment of plat and field notes, and office work in the Bureau of Land Management office will be borne by the claimant. (c) The amended survey must be made in strict conformity with, or be embraced within, the lines of the original survey. If the amended and original surveys are identical, that fact must be clearly and distinctly stated in the field notes. If not identical, a bearing and distance must be given from each established corner of the amended survey to the corresponding corner of the original survey. The lines of the original survey, as found upon the ground, must be laid down upon the preliminary plat in such manner as to contrast and show their relation to the lines of the amended survey. § 3861.3 Mineral surveyors.§ 3861.3-1 Extent of duties.The duty of a mineral surveyor in any particular case ceases when he has executed the survey and returned the field notes and preliminary plat, with his report, to the cadastral engineer. He will not be allowed to prepare for the mining claimant the papers in support of his application for patent. He is not permitted to combine the duties of surveyor and notary public in the same case by administering oaths. It is preferable that both preliminary and final oaths of assistants should be taken before some officer duly authorized to administer oaths, other than the mineral surveyor. In cases, however, where great delay, expense, or inconvenience would result from a strict compliance with this section, the mineral surveyor is authorized to administer the necessary oaths to his assistants, but in each case where this is done, he will submit to the proper cadastral engineer a full written report of the circumstances which required his stated action; otherwise he must have absolutely nothing to do with the case, except in his official capacity as surveyor. He will not employ field assistants interested therein in any manner. § 3861.3-2 Assistants.The employing of claimants, their attorneys, or parties in interest, as assistants in making surveys of mineral claims will not be allowed. § 3861.4 Contract for surveys.§ 3861.4-1 Payment.(a) The claimant is required, in all cases, to make satisfactory arrangements with the surveyor for the payment for his services and those of his assistants in making the survey, as the United States will not be held responsible for the same. (b) The state director has no jurisdiction to settle differences relative to the payment of charges for field work, between mineral surveyors and claimants. These are matters of private contract and must be enforced in the ordinary manner, i.e., in the local courts. The Department has, however, authority to investigate charges affecting the official actions of mineral surveyors, and will, on sufficient cause shown, suspend or revoke their appointment. § 3861.5 Appointment and employment of mineral surveyors.§ 3861.5-1 Appointment.Pursuant to section 2334 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 39), the Director or his delegate will appoint only a sufficient number of surveyors for the survey of mining claims to meet the demand for that class of work. Each appointee shall qualify as prescribed by the Director or his delegate. Applications for appointment as a mineral surveyor may be made at any office of the Bureau of Land Management listed in §1821.2–1 of these regulations. A roster of appointed mineral surveyors will be available at these offices. Each appointee may execute mineral surveys in any State where mineral surveys are authorized. [38 FR 30001, Oct. 31, 1973] § 3861.5-2 Employment.A mineral claimant may employ any United States mineral surveyor qualified as indicated in paragraph (a) of this section to make the survey of his claim. All expenses of the survey of mining claims and the publication of the required notices of application for patent are to be borne by the mining claimants. § 3861.6 Plats and notices.§ 3861.6-1 Payment of charges of the public survey office.With regard to the platting of the claim and other office work in the Bureau of Land Management office, including the preparation of the copies of the plat and field notes to be furnished the claimant, that office will make an estimate of the cost thereof, which amount the claimant will deposit with it to be passed to the credit of the fund created by “Deposits by Individuals for Surveying Public Lands.” § 3861.7 Posting.§ 3861.7-1 Plat and notice to be posted on claim.The claimant is required to post a copy of the plat of survey in a conspicuous place upon the claim, together with notice of his intention to apply for a patent therefor, which notice will give the date of posting, the name of the claimant, the name of the claim, the number of the survey, the mining district and county, and the names of adjoining and conflicting claims as shown by the plat of survey. § 3861.7-2 Proof of posting on the claim.After posting the said plat and notice upon the premises the claimant will file with the proper manager two copies of such plat and the field notes of survey of the claim, accompanied by two copies of the statement of at least two credible witnesses that such plat and notice are posted conspicuously upon the claim, giving the date and place of such posting, and two copies of the notice so posted to be attached to and form a part of said statement. 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