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SECTION 75-Mineral lands open to exploration, occupation and

purchase.

76-Status of lode claims located prior to May 10, 1872.

77-Patents for veins or lodes heretofore issued.

78-Manner of locating claims on veins or lodes after May 10, 1872.

79-Tunnel rights.

80-Manner of proceeding to obtain government title to vein or lode claims.

81-Adverse claims.

82-Placer claims.

83-Quantity of placer ground subject to location.
84-Mill sites.

85-Proof of citizenship of mining claimants.

86-Appointment of deputy surveyors of mining claims-
charges for surveys and publications-Fees of regis-
ters and receivers, etc.

87-Hearings to establish the character of lands.
88-Regulations under the coal land law.

§ 75. Mineral lands open to exploration, occupation, and purchase.—It will be perceived that by the foregoing provisions of lawl the mineral lands in the public domain, surveyed or unsurveyed, are open to exploration, occupation, and purchase, by all citizens of the United States, and all those who have declared their intention to become such.

1 Text of U. S. Statutes, ante, p. 12, et seq.

§ 76. Status of lode claims located prior to May 10, 1872.-By an examination of the several sections of the Revised Statutes it will be seen that the status of lode claims located previous to the 10th May, 1872, is not changed with regard to their extent along the lode or width of surface. Mining rights acquired under such previous

locations are, however, enlarged by said Revised Statutes in the following respect, viz.: The locators of all such previously taken veins or lodes, their heirs and assigns, so long as they comply with the laws of Congress and with state, territorial, or local regulations not in conflict therewith, governing mining claims, are invested with the exclusive possessory right of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, or ledges throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which 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 outside the vertical side-lines of such locations at the surface, it being expressly provided, however, that the 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, through the end lines of their locations so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins, lodes or ledges; no right being granted, however, to the claimant of such outside portion of a vein or ledge to enter upon the surface location of another claimant. It is to be distinctly understood, however, that the law limits the possessory right to veins, lodes, or ledges, other than the one named in the original location, to such as were not adversely claimed on May 10, 1872, and that where such other vein or ledge was so adversely claimed at that date, the right of the party so adversely claiming is in no way impaired by the provisions of the Revised Statutes. In order to hold the possessory title to a mining claim located prior to May 10, 1872, and for which a patent has not been issued, the law requires

ten dollars shall be expended annually in labor

rovements on each claim of 100 feet on the

course of the vein or lode until a patent shall have been issued therefor; but where a number of such claims are held in common upon the same vein or lode, the aggregate expenditure that would be necessary to hold all the claims, at the rate of ten dollars per hundred feet, may be made upon any one claim; a failure to comply with this requirement in any one year subjecting the claim upon which such failure occurred to relocation by other parties, the same as if no previous location thereof had ever been made, unless the claimants under the original location shall have resumed work thereon after such failure and before such relocation. The first annual expenditure upon claims of this class should have been performed subsequent to May 10, 1872, and prior to January 1, 1875. From and after January 1, 1875, the required amount must be expended annually until patent issues. By decision of the honorable Secretary of the Interior, dated March 4, 1879, such annual expenditures are not required subsequent to entry, the date of issuing the patent certificate being the date contemplated by statute. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners of a vein, lode or ledge, which has not been entered, to contribute his proportion of the expenditures necessary to hold the claim or claims so held in ownership in common, the co-owners who have performed the labor, or made the improvements as required by said Revised Statutes, may, at the expiration of the year, give such delinquent co-owner personal notice in writing, or notice by publication in the newspaper published nearest the claim, for at least once a week for ninety days; and, if upon the expiration of ninety days, after such notice in writing, or upon the expiration of 180 days after the first newspaper publication of notice, the delinquent co-owner shall have failed to contribute his proportion to meet such expenditure or

improvements, his interest in the claim by law passes to his co-owners who have made the expenditures or improvements as aforesaid.

§ 77. Patents for veins or lodes heretofore issued.— Rights under patents for veins or lodes heretofore granted under previous legislation of Congress are enlarged by the Revised Statutes so as to invest the patentee, his heirs or assigns, with title to all veins, lodes or ledges, throughout their entire depth, the top or apex of which lies within the end and side boundary lines of his claim on the surface, as patented, extended downward vertically, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course downward as to extend outside the vertical side lines of the claim at the surface. The right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges to be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward through the end lines of the claim at the surface, so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins or ledges, it being expressly provided, however, that all veins, lodes, or ledges, the top or apex of which lies inside such surface locations, other than the one named in the patent, which were adversely claimed on the 10th May, 1872, are excluded from such conveyance by patent. Applications for patents for mining claims pending at the date of the act of May 10, 1872, may be prosecuted to final decision in the general land-office, and where no adverse rights are affected thereby, patents will be issued, in pursuance of the provisions of the Revised Statutes.

§ 78. Manner of locating claims on veins or lodes after May 10, 1872.-From and after the 10th of May, 1872. any person who is a citizen of the United States, or declared his intention to become a citizen, may

locate, record, and hold a mining claim of fifteen hundred linear feet along the course of any mineral vein or lode subject to location; or an association of persons, severally qualified as above, may make joint location of such claim of fifteen hundred feet; but in no event can a location of a vein or lode made subsequent to May 10, 1872, exceed fifteen hundred feet along the course thereof, whatever may be the number of persons composing the association. With regard to the extent of surface ground adjoining a vein or lode, and claimed for the convenient working thereof, the Revised Statutes provide that the lateral extent of locations of veins or lodes made after May 10, 1872, shall in no case exceed three hundred feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, and that no such surface rights shall be limited by any mining regulations to less than twenty-five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing on the 10th May, 1872, may render such limitation necessary, the end lines of such claims to be in all cases parallel to each other. Said lateral measurements cannot extend beyond three hundred feet on either side of the middle of the vein at the surface, or such distance as is allowed by local laws. For example: 400 feet cannot be taken on one side, and 200 feet on the other. If, however, 300 feet on each side are allowed, and by reason of prior claims but 100 feet can be taken on one side, the locator will not be restricted to less than 300 feet on the other side; and when the locator does not determine by exploration where the middle of the vein at the surface is, his discovery shaft must be assumed to mark such point. By the foregoing it will be perceived that no lode claim located after the 10th May, 1872, can exceed a parallelogram fifteen hundred feet in length by six hundred feet in width, but whether surface ground of that width can be taken, depends upon the local regula

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