Laserfiche WebLink
use permit Disposals of salable minerals fiom <br />BLM-administered lands are regulated by'I'ide <br />43, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Ptut <br />3600. Sales ate at the estimated fair maricet% <br />value. A free use permit may be issued to a <br />Govemment agency or a nonprofit organization. <br />Disposals from National Forest System lands are <br />regulated by Title 36 CFR Subpart C, 228.40. <br />On National Forest System lands, you may need <br />a special trse permit from the Forest Service. <br />Unrnmmon varieties of salable type minerals <br />may be locatable provided that the deposits meet <br />certain tests created by various judicial and <br />administrative decisions. Federal mineral <br />examiners determine uncommon varieties on a <br />case-by-case basis. <br />Since 1963, petrified wood has not been :locat- <br />able under the mining laws. Hobbyists may <br />remove small amounts for noncommercial use <br />free of charge. The Federal Govemment may sell <br />lazger amounts of petrified wood under appli- <br />cableregulations (see 43 CFR 3620). <br />Since 1920, the Federal Govemment has leased <br />fuels and certain other minerals (see 43 CFR <br />3000-3590). Leasable mineralstodayinclude <br />oi] and gas, oil shale, geothermal resoura;s, <br />potash, sodium, native asphalt, solid and semi- <br />solid bitumen, bituminous rock, phosphate, and <br />coal. Tn Louisiana and New Mexico, sulphur is <br />leasable. <br />"Discovery" of a Valuable Mineral Deposit <br />Federal statutes do not describe what constitutes <br />a valuable mineral deposit However, th<: Gov- <br />emmem adopted an "economic" definition of <br />locatable minerals that has resulted in a test that <br />makes use of the concept of an economic: ore <br />body. Consequently, several judicial and admin- <br />istrative decisions have established the "pendent <br />man rule" of discovery. A Land Decision of the <br />Department of the Interior in 1894, Castle v. <br />Womble, 19 LD 455 (1894), states: "...where <br />minerals have been found and the evidence is of <br />such a character that a person of ordinary pen- <br />dence would be justified in the further expendi- <br />ture of his labor and means, with a reasonable <br />prospect of success in developing a valuable <br />mine, the requirements of the statutes have been <br />met " <br />The Supreme Coun approved this definition in <br />Chrisman v. ill r 197 US 313 (1905). Tn 1968 <br />the Supreme Court approved a parallel concept, <br />the marketability test, in LI„~, v. 1 "m n, 290 <br />US 602-603 (1968). The marketability test adds <br />to the pendent man rule and considers ewnomics. <br />It requires that the claimant show a reasonable <br />prospect of selling minerals from a claim or a <br />group of claims. Its use by the Department of the <br />Interior since 1933 is based on the Solicitor's <br />opinion in )~yman v. Ellis, 52 LD 714 (1929). <br />This decision involved widespread nonmetallic <br />minerals. The Solicitornoted a need for a <br />distinct showing that the mineral could be mined, <br />removed, and marketed at a profit. The Interior <br />Board of Land Appeals ruled in Pacific Coast <br />Molybdenum, 90 ID 352 (1983) that proof of past <br />or present profit is not a requirement. However, <br />a profit must be a reasonable likelihood. <br />Other Departmental decisions require a discovery <br />on each claim, based on an actual physical <br />exposure of the mineral deposit within the claim <br />boundaries. Jefferson-Montana Conner Mines <br />~q,, 4] LD 320 (1912), establishes the full test <br />for a lode claim: (1) a physical exposure of the <br />mineral deposit, (2) evidence that the deposit <br />contains a valuable mineral, and {3) engineering <br />and economic data showing a possible profit <br />For placer claims, in addition to proof of a <br />discovery of a pay streak, each 10 acres must be <br />shown to bemineral-in-character. Mineral-in- <br />character isbased on geologic inference and <br />marketability, not necessarily on an actual <br />