1872 Mining Laws

FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. II Ch. 149, 152. 1872 91 fied person: Provided, That all the

persons availing themselves of the provisions of this section shall be required to pay, and there

shall be collected from them, at the time of making payment for their land, interest on the total

amounts paid by them, respectively, at the rate of five per centum per annum, from the date at

which they would have been required to make payment under the act of July fifteenth, eighteen

hundred and seventy. until the date of payment: Provided further. That the twelfth section of said

act of July sixteenth eighteen hundred and seventy, is hereby so amended that the aggregate

amount of the proceeds of sale received to the first day of March of each year shall be the amount

upon which payment of interest shall be based.

Sec. 3. That the sale or transfer of his or her claim upon any portion of these lands by any settler

prior to the issue of the commissioner’s instructions of April twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and

seventy-one, shall not operate to preclude the right of entry, under the provisions of this act, upon

another tract settled upon subsequent to such sale or transfer: Provided, That satisfactory proof of

good faith be furnished upon such subsequent settlement: Provided further, That the restrictions of

the preemption laws relating to previous enjoyment of the pre-emption right, to removal from one’s

own land in the same State, or the ownership of over three hundred and twenty acres, shall not

apply to any settler actually residing on his or her claim at the date of the passage of this act.

Approved, May 9, 1872

CHAP. CL. II — As Act to promote the Development of the mining Resources of the Untied States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in

Congress assembled, That all valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the United States,

both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and

purchase, and the lands in which they are found to occupation and purchase, by citizens of the

United States and those who have declared their intention to become such, under regulations

prescribed by law, and according to the local customs or rules of miners, in the several

mining-districts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United

States.

Sec.2. That mining-claims upon veins or lodes of quarts or other rock in place bearing gold, silver,

cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable deposits heretofore located, shall be governed as to

length along the vein or lode by the customs, regulations, and laws in force at the date of their

location. A mining-claim located after the passage of this act, whether located by one or more

persons, may equal, but no exceed, one thousand five hundred feet in length along the vein or lode;

but no location of a mining-claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the

limits of the claim located. No claim shall exceed more than three hundred feet on each side of the

Middle of the vein at the surface, nor shall any claim be limited by any mining regulation to less

then twenty five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse

rights existing at the passage of this act shall render such limitation necessary. The end-lines of

each claim shall be paralleled to each other.

Sec.3. That the locators of all mining locations heretofore made, or which shall hereafter be made,

on any mineral vein, lode, or ledge, situated on the public domain, their heirs and assigns, where no

adverse claim exists at the passage of this act, so long as they comply with the laws of the United

States, and with State, territorial, and local regulations not in conflict with said laws of the United

States governing their possessory title, shall have the exchange right of possession and enjoyment

of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and ledges

throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which Five per cent interest to be paid on what

sum and for what time.

Settler, transferring claims prior to, &cc., not precluded from entering upon another tract, if, &cc.

Certain restrictions of the preemption laws not to apply.

May 10, 1872 See 1873, ch. 130. Post , p.445. Valuable mineral deposits in public lands and the

lands to be open to citizens, &cc.

Length of mining-claims upon veins or lode width; end-lines

Locations of mining locations where there is no adverse claim, &cc., to have what exclusive rights

of possession and enjoyment.

Certain exclusive rights to location of mining claims Limitations.

Owners of tunnels to have what rights of possession of certain veins or lodes.

What to be deemed as abontamend of right by owners of tunnels. Miners may make certain rules as

to location, &cc., of mining-claim.

Requirements as to locations; records;

Amount of work necessary to hold possession. See 1873, ch. 214 Post, p. 483

Mine to be open to relocation, if &cc.

Rights of co-ownership

Interest of delinquents after notice, &cc., to belong to co-owners Patent for land claimed, &cc., for

valuable deposits, how to be obtained.

92 FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. II Ch. 152. 1872.

lies inside of such surface-lines extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, or ledges

may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course downward as to extend the vertical side-lines

of said surface locations: Provided, That their right of possession to such outside parts of said veins

or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward

as aforesaid the end-lines of their locations so continued in their own direction that such planes

will intersect such parts of said veins or ledges: And provide further, That nothing in the section

shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends in its downward course

beyond the vertical lines of his claim to enter the surface of a claim owned or possessed by another.

Sec. 4. That where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode, or for discovery of mines.

the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins or lodes within three

thousand feet from the face of such tunnel on the line thereof, not previously known to exists,

discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface; and locations on

the line of each tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by either parties after

the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable

diligence, shall be invalid: but prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered

as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the lines of said tunnel.


Sec. 5. That the miners of each mining district may make rules and regulations not in conflict with

the laws of the United States, or with the laws of the State or Territory in which the district is

situated, governing the location, manner of recording, amount of work necessary to hold possession

of a mining-claim, subject to the following requirements: The location must be distinctly marked on

the ground so that the boundaries can be readily traced. All records of the mining-claim hereafter

made shall contain the name of the locators, the date of the location, and such description of the

claim or claims located by reference to some natural object or permanent monument as will identify

the claim. On each claim located after the passage of this act, and until a patent shall have been

issued therefore, not less than one hundred dollars’ worth of labor shall be performed or

improvements made during each year. On all claims located prior t the passage of this act, ten

dollars worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made each year for each one hundred

feet in length along the vein until a patent shall have been issued therefore: but where such claims

are held in common such expenditure may be made upon any on claim; and upon a failure to comply

with these conditions, the claim or mine upon which arch failure occurred shall be open to

relocation in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made: Provided, That the

original locators, their heirs, assigns, or legal representative, have resumed work upon the claim

after such failure and before such location. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners the

contribute his proportion of the expenditures required by this act, the co-owners who have

performed the labor or made the improvements may, at the expiration of the year, give such

delinquent co-owner personal notice in writing or notice of publication in the news-paper published

nearest the claim, for at least once a week for ninety days, and if the expiration of ninety days after

such notice in writing or by publication such delinquent should fail or refuse to contribute his

proportion to comply with this act, his interest in the claim shall become the property of the

co-owners who have made the required expenditures.

SEC. 6. That a patent for any land claimed and located for deposits may be obtained in the following

manner: Any person, association or corporation authorized to locate a claim under this act, having

claimed, and located a piece of land for such purpose, who has, or have,

FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. II Ch. 149, 152. 1872. 93 complied with the terms of this act,

may file in the proper land-office an application for a patent, under oath, showing such compliance,

together with a plat and field-notes of the claim or claims in common, made by or under the

direction of the United States surveyor-general, showing accurately the boundaries of the claim or

claims, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy of such

plat, together with a notice of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the land

embraced in such plat previous to the filing of the application for a patent, and shall file an affidavit

of at least two persons that such notice has been duly posted as aforesaid, and shall file a copy of

said notice in such land-office, and shall thereupon be entitled to a patent for said land, in the

manner following: The register of the land-office, upon the filing of such application,

plat-field-notes, notices, and affidavits, shall publish a notice that such application has been made,

for the period of sixty days, in a news-paper to be by him designated as published nearest to said

claim; and he shall also post such notice in his office for the same period. The claimant at the time

of filing this application, or at any time thereafter, within the sixty days of publication, shall file

with the register a certificate of the United States surveyor-general that five hundred dollars’ worth

of labor has been expended or improvements made upon the claim by himself or grantors; that the

plat is correct, with such further description by such reference to natural objects or permanent

monuments as shall identify the claim, and furnish an accurate description, to be incorporated in

the paten. At the expiration of the sixty days of publication the claimant shall file his affidavit,

showing that the plat and notice have been posted in a conspicuous place on the claim during said

period of publication. If no adverse claim shall have been filed with the register and the receiver of

the proper land-office at the expiration of the sixty days of publication, it shall be assumed that the

applicant is entitled to a patent, upon the payment to the proper officer of five dollars per acre, and

that no adverse claim exists; and thereafter no objection from third parties to the issuance of a

patent shall be heard, except it be shown that the applicant has failed to comply with this act.

Sec. 7. That where an adverse claim shall be filed during the period of publication, it shall be upon

oath of the person or persons making the same, and shall show the nature, boundaries, and extent

of such adverse claim, and all proceedings, except the publication of notice and making and filing of

the affidavit thereof, shall be stayed until the controversy shall have been settled or decided by a

court of competent jurisdiction, or the adverse claim waived. It shall be the duty of the adverse

claimant, within thirty days after filing his claim, to commence proceedings in a court of competent

jurisdiction, to determine the question of the right of possession, and prosecute the same with

reasonable diligence to final judgment; and a failure so to do shall be waiver of his adverse claim.

After such judgment shall have been rendered, the party entitled to the possession of the claim, or

any portion thereof, may, without giving further notice, file a certified copy of the judgment-roll

with the register of the land-office, together with the certificate of the surveyor-general that the

requisite amount of labor has been expended, or improvements made thereon, and the description

required in other cases, and shall pay to the receiver five dollars per acre for his claim, together the

proper fees, whereupon the whole proceedings and the judgment-roll shall be certified by the

register to the commissioner of the general land office, and a patent shall issue thereupon for the

claim, or such portion thereof as the applicant shall appear, from the decision of the court, to rightly

posses. If it shall appear from the decision of the court that several parties are entitled to separate

and different portions of the claim, each party may pay for his portion of the claim, with proper fees,

and file the certificate and description by the surveyor-general, whereupon the register shall certify

the proceedings

Patent for land claimed, &cc., for valuable deposits, how to be obtained Proceedings if adverse claim

is filed Judgment of court to be obtained. After judgment, patent to issue to party entitled to

possession upon, &cc. Where there are several parties entitled to different portions of claim.

Proof of citizen- ship. 1866, ch. 262 Vol. xiv. p. 251 1870, ch. 235. Vol. xiv. p. 217

Alienation of title by patent

Description of vein claims on surveyed lands have to designate locations; on unsurveyed lands

Repeal of %% 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6, of act of 1866, ch. 262 Vol. xiv, pp. 251, 252. Existing rights not

effected Pending appilica- tions and patents heretofore issued.

Proceedings to obtain patents under act of 1870, chap. 235, vol. xvi. p. 217, to be had according to

this act.


Placer-claims upon surveyed lands pending proceedings.

Certain agricultural lands may be entered for homestead, &cc., purposes. Proceedings for patent for

placer-claim which includes a vein or lode. FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. II Ch. 152. 1872. 94

and judgment-roll t the commissioner of the general land office, as preceding case, and patents

shall issue to the several parties according to their respective rights. Proof of citizenship under this

act, or the acts of July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty six, and July ninth , eighteen

hundred and seventy, in the case of an individual, may consist of his own affidavit thereof, and in

case of an association of persons unincorporated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, made on

his own knowledge or up information and belief, and in case of a corporation organized under the

laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory of the Untied States, by the filing of a

certified copy of their charter or certificate of incorporation; and nothing herein contained shall be

construed to prevent the alienation of the title conveyed by a patent for a mining-claim to any

person whatsoever.

Sec. 8. That the description of vein or lode claims, upon surveyed lands, shall designate the location

of the claim with reference to the lines of the public surveys, but need not conform therewith; but

where a patent shall be issued as aforesaid for claims upon unsurveyed lands, the surveyor-

general, in extending the surveys, shall adjust the same to the boundaries of such patented claim,

according to the plat or description thereof, but so as in no case to interfere with or change the

location of any such patented claim.

Sec. 9. That sections one, two, three, four, and six of an act entitled “An act granting the right of

way to ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes,” approved July

twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, are hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not affect

existing rights. Applications for patents for mining-claims now pending may be prosecuted to a final

decision in the general land office; but in such cases where adverse rights are not affected thereby,

patents may issue in pursuance of the provisions of this act; and all patents for mining-claims

heretofore issued under the act of July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, shall convey

all the rights and privileges conferred by this act where no adverse rights exist at the time of the

passage of this act.

Sec. 10. That the act entitled “An act to amend an act granting the right of way to ditch and canal

owners over the public lands, and for other purposes,” approved July ninth, eighteen hundred and

seventy, shall be and remain in full force, except as to the proceedings to obtain a patient, which

shall be similar to the proceedings prescribed by sections six and seven of this act for obtaining

patents to vein or lode claims; but where said placer-claims shall be upon surveyed lands, and

conform to legal subdivisions, no further survey or plat shall be required, and all placer

mining-claims hereafter located shall conform as near as practicable with the United States system

of public land surveys and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys, and no such location shall

include more than twenty acres for such individual claimant, but where placer-claims cannot be

conformed to legal subdivisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands: Provided,

That proceedings now pending may be prosecuted to their final determination under the existing

laws; but the provisions of this act, when not in conflict with existing laws, shall apply to such

cases. And provided also, That where by the segregation of mineral land in any legal subdivision a

quantity of agricultural land less than forty acres remains, said fractional portion of agricultural

land may be entered by any party qualified by law, for homestead or pre-emption purposes.

Sec. 11. That where the same person, association, or corporation is in possession of a placer-claim,

and also a vein or lode included within the boundaries thereof, application shall be made for a

patent for the placer-claim, with statement that it includes such vein or lode, and in such case

(subject to the provisions of this act entitled “An act to amend an act granting the right of way to

ditch and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes.”

FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. II Ch. 152. 1872. 95 approved July ninth, eighteen hundred and

seventy) a patent shall issue for the placer-claim, including such vein or lode, upon the payment of

five dollars per acre such vein or lode claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on each side thereof.

The reminder of the placer-claim, or any placer-claim not embracing any vein or lode claim, shall be

paid for at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per acre, together with all costs of proceedings;

and where a vein or lode, such as is described in the second section of this act, is known to exist

within the boundaries of a placer-claim, an application for a patent for such placer-claim which does

not include an application for the vein or lode claim shall be construed as a conclusive declaration

that the claimant of the placer-claim has no right of possession of the vein or lode claim; but where

the existence of a vein or lode in a placer-claim is not known, a patent for the placer-claim shall

convey all valuable mineral and other deposits within the boundaries thereof.

Sec. 12. That the surveyor-general of the United States may appoint in each land district containing

mineral lands as many competent surveyors as shall for appointment to survey mining-claims. The

expenses of the survey of vein or lode claims, and the survey and subdivision of placer-claims into

quantities than one hundred and sixty acres, together with the cost of publication of notice, shall

be paid by the applicants, and they shall be at liberty to obtain the same at the most reasonable

rates, and they shall also be at liberty to employ any United States deputy survey to make the

survey. The commissioner of the general land office shall also have power to establish the

maximum charges for surveys and publication of notices under this act; and, in case of excessive

charges for publication, he may designate any newspaper published in a land district where mines

are situated for the publication of mining-notice in such district, and fix the rates to be charged by

such paper; and, and to the end that the commissioner may be fully informed on the subject, each

applicant shall file with the register a sworn statement of all charges and fees paid by said

applicant for publication and surveys, together with all fees and money paid the register and the

receiver of the land-office, which statement shall be transmitted, with the other papers in the case,

to the commissioner of the general land office. The fees of the register and the receiver shall be five

dollars each for filing and acting upon each application for patent or adverse claim filed, and they

shall be allowed the amount fixed by law for reducing testimony to writing, when done in the

land-office, such fees and allowances to be paid by the respective parties; and no other fees shall

be charged by them in such cases. Nothing in this act shall be constructed to charge or affect the

rights of either party in regard to any property in controversy at the time of the passage of this act,

or of the act entitled “An act granting the right of way to ditch and canal owners over the public

lands, and for other purpose,” approved July twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and sixty, nor shall

this act affect any right acquired under said act; and nothing in this act shall be constructed to

repeal, impair, or in any way affect the provisions of the act entitled “An act granting to A. Sutro

the right of way, and other privileges to aid in the construction of a draining and exploring tunnel

to the Comstock lode, in the State of Nevada,” approved July twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and

sixty-six.

Sec. 13. That all affidavits required to be to be made under this act, or the act of which it is

amendatory, may be verified before any officer authorized to administer oaths within the

land-district where the claims may be situated, and all testimony and proofs may be taken any such

officer, and, when duly certified by the officer taking the same, shall have the same force and effect

as if taken before the register and receiver of the land-office. In cases of contest as to the mineral

or agricultural character of land, the testimony and proofs may be taken as herein on personal

Effect of patent for Placer- claim upon veins, &cc., within its boundaries. Surveyor-general may

appoint in each district competent surveyors of mining- claims.

Expenses of survey, &cc., of claims, &cc., Commissioner of land office to establish maximum

charges, &cc. Applicant to file sworn statement of fees and charges. Fees of register and receiver.

Adverse rights not affected by this act .

Provisions of 1866, ch. 244, vol. xiv.p 242, not affected hereby. Affidavits under this act, &cc., may

be verified and testimony &cc., taken, before whom. Testimony in contests as to character of land,

how taken Where veins intersect, &cc., priority of title to govern. Proviso. Where veins unite, oldest

location to take Patents for non- mineral lands, not contiguous to lode, but used by mining, &cc.,

purposes. Limit t amount of such land.

Repealing clause. Existing rights not affected.

FORTY-SECOND CONGRESS. Sess. II Ch. 152. 1872. 96 notice of at least ten days to the opposing

party; or if said party cannot be found, then by publication of at least once a week for thirty days in

a newspaper, to be designated by the register of the land-office as published nearest to the location

of such land; and the register shall require proof that such notice has been given. Sec. 14. That

where two or more veins intersect or cross each other, priority of title shall govern, and such prior

location shall be entitled to all ore or mineral contained within the space of intersection : Provided,

however, That the subsequent location shall have the right of way through said space of

intersection for the purposes of the convenient working of the said mine : And provided also, That

where two or more veins unite, the oldest or prior location shall take the vein below the point of

union, including all the space of intersection.

Sec. 15. That where non-mineral land not contiguous to the vein or lode is used or occupied by the

proprietor of such vein or lode for mining or milling purposes, such non-adjacent surface ground

may be embraced and included in an application for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same

may be patented therewith, subject to the same preliminary requirements as to survey and notice

as are applicable under this act to veins or lodes : Provided, That no location hereafter made of such

non-adjacent land shall exceed five acres, and payment for the same must be made at the same

rate as fixed by this act for the superficies of the lode. The owner of a quartz-mill or

reduction-works, not owning a mine in connection therewith, may also receive a patent for his

mill-site, as provided in this section.

Sec. 16. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed: Provided, That

nothing contained in this act shall be construed to impair, in any way, rights or interests in mining

property acquired under existing laws.

Approved, May 10, 1872