GENERAL41570

• Permit No: M2002003
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Date: 2/19/2002
• From: TOPAZ MOUNTAIN GEM MINE
• To: SOUTH PARK RANGER DISTRICT
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Mill Sites: A mill site must be located on
nonmineral land. Its purpose is to either (1)
support a lode or placer mining claim operation
or (2) support itself independent of any particular
claim. A mill site must include the erection of a
mill or reduction works and/or may include other
' uses reasonably incident to the support of a
mining operation. Descriptions of mill sites are
by metes and bounds surveys or legal subdivi-
sion. The maximum size of a mill site is 5 acres
(see Figure 2).
Tunnel Sites: A tunnel site is where a tunnel is
run to develop a vein or lode. It may also be used
for the discovery of unknown veins or lodes. To
stake a tunnel site, two stakes are placed up to
3,000 feet apart on the line of the proposed
tunnel. Recordation is the same as a lode claim.
Some States require additional centerline stakes
(for example, in Nevada centerline stakes must
be placed at 300-foot intervals).
An individual may locate lode claims to cover
' any or all blind (not known to exist) veins or
lodes intersected by the tunnel. The maximum
distance these lode claims may exist is 1,500 feet
on either side of the centerline of the tunnel.
. This, in essence, gives the mining claimant the
right to prospect an area 3,000 feet wide and
3,000 feet long. Any mining claim located for a
blind lode diswvered while driving a tunnel
relates back in time to the date of the location of
the tunnel site.
Federal Lands Open to Mining
There are federally administered lands in 19
States where you may locate a minting claim or
site. These States are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas,
California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New
Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota,
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. In these
States, the BLM manages the surface of public
A notice of intention to hold a claim or site is a
letter or notice signed by the claimant(s) or their
agent(s)..It should include the BLM serial
number assigned to eat:h claim or site and any
change in mailing address of the claimant(s). If
used to notify the county and the BLM of an
approved or pending petition for deferment of
annual assessment work, it must include a
reference to the decision on file with the BLM
(by date granted and serial number) or the
pending petition (by date of filing and serial
number).
The BLM may grant a temporary deferment of
assessment worst under certain conditions (see
43 CFR 3852.1). These conditions concern
denial of legal access to a mining claim or other
legal impediments. The claimant must, therefore,
initiate actions to gain access. Such a deferment
may not exceed one year, but maybe renewed for
an additional year upon request. Then; is no
particular form for a petition for deferment of
assessment work. The petition can be a letter to
the BLM signed by at least one of the owners of
the claim. It must fully explain the actions taken
to initiate access and the legal obstacles prevent-
ing access. A copy of the notice to the public
recorded with the county must accompany the
petition. The petition should include the BLM
mining claim serial number(s) and the assessment
year to be deferred.
Countv: Each State has its own deadline for
filing an affidavit of assessment work. Most
States require filing within 30 to 90 days after the
end of the assessment year (September 1).
Therefore, it is important to check the State
requirements for filing periods in the State in
which the claim(s) is located.
12 21