DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, Dec. 1, 1894. This circular is reissued for the information and benefit of those con cerned. 2 S. W. LAMOREUX, GENTLEMEN: Your attention is invited to the Revised Statutes of the United States and the amendments thereto in regard to MINING LAWS AND MINING RESOURCES. TITLE XXXII, CHAPTER 6. reserved. SECTION 2318. In all cases lands valuable for minerals Mineral lands shall be reserved from sale, except as otherwise expressly directed by law. 4 July, 1866, c. 166, s. 5, v. 14, p. Mineral lands SEC. 2319. All valuable mineral deposits in lands belong- 86. ing to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, open to purchase are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and by citizens. purchase, and the lands in which they are found to occupa- 10 May, 1872, c. tion and purchase, by citizens of the United States and 152, s. 1, v. 17, p. those who have declared their intention to become such, under regulations prescribed by law, and according to the, U. S. vs. Gear, local customs or rules of miners in the several mining-dis tricts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with the laws of the United States. 91. 3 How., 120. SEC. 2320. Mining-claims upon veins or lodes of quartz Length of minor other rock in place bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, veins or lodes. tin, copper, or other valuable deposits, heretofore located, 10 May, 1872, 0. shall be governed as to length along the vein or lode by the 152, 8. 2, v. 17, p. customs, regulations, and laws in force at the date of their 91. location. A mining-claim located after the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, whether located by one or more persons, may equal, but shall not exceed, one thousand five hundred feet in length along the vein or lode; but no location of a mining-claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located. No claim shall extend more than three hundred feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, nor shall any claim be limited by any mining regulation 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 tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, render such limitation necessary. The end-lines of each claim shall be parallel to each other. 3 Proof of citi. zenship. 152, s. 7, v. 17, p. 24. SEC. 2321. Proof of citizenship, under this chapter, may consist, in the case of an individual, of his own affidavit 10 May, 1872, 3. thereof; in the case of an association of persons unincorporated, of the affidavit of their authorized agent, made on his own knowledge, or upon information and belief; and in the case of a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, or of any State or Territory thereof, by the filing of a certified copy of their charter or certificate of incorporation. зnjoyment. 91. Locators' rights SEC. 2322. The locators of all mining locations heretoof possession and fore made or which shall hereafter be made, on any mineral vein, lode, or ledge, situated on the public domain, 10 May, 1872, c. 152, s. 3, v. 17, p. their heirs and assigns, where no adverse claim exists on the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, so long as they comply with the laws of the United States, and with State, Territorial, and local regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United States governing their possessory title, shall have the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all veins, lodes, and 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 surface locations. But their right of possession to such outside parts of such veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward as above described, through the end-lines of their locations, so continued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of such veins or ledges. And nothing in this section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends in its downward course beyond the vertical lines of his claim to enter upon the surface of a claim owned or possessed by another. Owners of tun nels, rights of. SEC. 2323. Where a tunnel is run for the development of a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, the owners of 10 May, 1872, c. such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins 152, 8. 4, v. 17, P. or lodes within three thousand feet from the face of such 92. Regulations made by miners. 152, 8. 5, v. 17, p. 92. tunnel on the line thereof, not previously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface; and locations on the line of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by other parties after the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid; but failure to prosecute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the line of such tunnel. SEC. 2324. The miners of each mining-district may make regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United 10 May, 1872, c. States, or with the laws of the State or Territory in which the district is situated, governing the location, manner of recording, amount of work necessary to hold possession of a mining-claim, subject to the following requirements: The location must be distinctly marked on the ground so that its boundaries can be readily traced. All records of miningclaims hereafter made shall contain the name or names of the locators, the date of the location, and such a description of the claim or claims located by reference to some natural object or permanent monument as will identify the claim. On each claim located after the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and until a patent has been issued therefor, not less than one hundred dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during each year. On all claims located prior to the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, ten dollars' worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made by the tenth day of June, eighteen hundred and seventyfour, and each year thereafter, for each one hundred feet in length along the vein until a patent has been issued therefor; but where such claims are held in common, such expenditure may be made upon any one claim; and upon a failure to comply with these conditions, the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be open to relocation in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made, provided that the original locators, their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, have not resumed work upon the claim after failure and before such location. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners to contribute his proportion of the expenditures required hereby, the co-owners who have performed the labor or made the improvements 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 at the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writing or by publication such delinquent should fail or refuse to contribute his proportion of the expenditure required by this section, his interest in the claim shall become the property of his co-owners who have made the required expenditures. mineral lands, 92. SEC. 2325. A patent for any land claimed and located for Patents for valuable deposits may be obtained in the following manner: how obtained. Any person, association, or corporation authorized to locate 10 May, 1872, o. a claim under this chapter, having claimed and located a 152, s. 6, v. 17, p piece of land for such purposes, who has, or have, complied with the terms of this chapter, may file in the proper landoffice an application for a patent, under oath, showing such compliance, together with a plat and field-notes of the claim or claims in common, made by or under the direction of the United States Surveyor-General, showing accurately the boundaries of the claim or claims, which shall be distinctly marked by monuments on the ground, and shall post a copy of such plat, together with a notice of such application for a patent, in a conspicuous place on the land embraced in such plat previous to the filing of the application for a patent, and shall file an affidavit of at least two persons that such notice has been duly posted, and shall file a copy of the notice in such land-office, and shall thereupon be entitled to a patent for the land, in the manner following: The register of the land-office, upon the filing of such applica |