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_ '40. 1496- P. 1 <br />JUL. 23.2008 12:10PM USOI IBLA <br />United States Department of the Interior <br />OFFICE OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS <br />Interior Bound of Land Appeals TAM PR1or <br />801 N. Quincy Smeer, Suite 300 1H r&RfC^ <br />Arlington, vigonia 22203 <br />703-235-3750 703-233-8349 (fax) <br />LKA INTERNATIONAL, INC. <br />IBLA 2007-187 <br />Decided July 23, 2008 <br />Appeal from a decision of the Field Office Manager, Gunnison (Colorado) <br />Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, declining to accept proposed notice-level <br />mining operations on public lands and requiring submission of a plan of operations or <br />plan amendment to conduct those operations. COC-70807. <br />Reversed and case remanded; petition for stay denied as moot. <br />1. Mining Claims: Plan of Operations <br />Departmental regulations governing the surface <br />management of mining claims recognize three types of <br />operations on mining claims: casual use, for which an <br />operator need not notify BLM; notice-level operations, for <br />which an operator must submit a notice; and plan-level <br />operations, for which an operator must submit a plan of <br />operations and obtain BLWs approval. 43 C.F.R. <br />§ 3809.10. Notice-level operations consist of exploration <br />causing surface disturbance of 5 acres or less of public <br />lands on which reclamation has not been completed. <br />43 C.F.R. § 3809.21(a). Plan-level operations encompass <br />operations that are greater than casual use, except for <br />notice-level operations covered by 43 C.F.R. <br />§ 3809.21(a). <br />2. Mining Claims: Plan of Operations <br />Under 43 C.F.R. § 3809.313(e), a person cannot begin <br />operations 15 calendar days after filing a complete notice, <br />if BLM determines that the proposed activities do not <br />qualify under 43 C.P.R. § 3809.11 as notice-level <br />operations, because those activities necessitate the filing <br />of a plan of operations. <br />175 IBLA 225