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INTRODUCTION There are three basic types of minerals on Federal lands: locatable, leasable, and salable. These minerals have been defined by Federal laws, regulations, and legal decisions. This pamphlet discusses only locatable minerals. The major Federal law governing locatable . minerals is the Mining Law of 1872 (May 10, 1872), as amended (30 U.S.C. 22-54). This law provides citizens of the United States the oppor- ~. tuttity to explore for, discover, and purchase certain valuable mineral deposits on those Federal lands that remain open for that purpose. These minerals include metallic minerals and cettain nonmetallic minerals. The ]aw also sets general standazds and guidelines for claiming the possessory tights to valuable minerals discovered during exploration. Other provisions provide for the enactment of State laws that are consistent with Federal law. Therefore, most States have enacted laws that prescribe the manner of locating and recordirtg mining claims, tunnel sites, and mill sites on Federal lands within their boundaries. This pamphlet is a brief introduction to the locatable minerals program on Federal lands. The last section of this booklet provides sources for finding more information on the following topics: (1} geology and mineral resources of a particular area, (2) mining and milling tech- niques, {3) surface protection and reclamation requirements, and (4) other Federal and State legal requirements. The Mining Law of 1872, as amended, has five elements: (1) discovery of a valuable mineral deposit. (2) location of mining claims and sites, (3) recordation of mining claims and sites, The Forest Service does'not keep the official land and mineral rewrds for the National Forests. Federal land records include land status plats (i.e., Master Title.Plats or M'IP's), land survey notes, and mineral survey note;; and maps. Mining claim records include the actual hazd copy files, orga- nized by mining claim serial number, and micro- fiche abstracts available in four separate formats. Formats for the microfiche include a geographic index by legal description, a claim name index, a claimant name index, and a BLM mining claim serial nttmber index. Also, the BLM publishes a series of multicolored surface and mineral man- agementmaps (except for Alaska). These maps depict the ownership pattern of Federal lands. They maybe purchased at most BLM offices. MORE INrORMATION Mining Claims, Mining Plans, and Lands Open to Mining BLM: The BLM has the pri- mary responsibility for adminis- tering the laws and regulations regazding the disposal of locat- able minerals from all federally administered lands. The BLM's statutory authority is derived from the Mining Law of 1872, as amended (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.), the original public land author- ity in 43 U.S.C. 2, 1201 and 1457, and FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). These statutes, together with the regulations (43 CFR 3800) and numerous judicial and adminisvative decisions that have interpreted them, make up the body of the mining law system. The law itself may be examined in most BLM State Offices or in public libraries. For information concerning BLM regulations and public lands open to mining in specific areas, contact the proper BLM State or local office. The BLM State Office locations aze listed at the back of this pamphlet. 29