MINERAL LANDS-Continued

DETERMINATION OF CHARACTER OF-Continued

2. The period for determination by the Department of the Interior
whether public land included within the primary limits of a legis-
lative grant-in-aid of the construction of a railroad which excepts
mineral land is mineral in character extends to the time of issu-
ance of patent to the railroad company-.

3. When the Department of the Interior finds that public land within
the place limits of a legislative grant-in-aid of the construction of
a railroad is mineral in character and the railroad company chal-
lenges such finding, a hearing should be granted at which the
Department has the obligation of making a prima facie case of
mineral character whereupon the company has the burden of
establishing nonmineral character by a preponderance of the
evidence__---

4. To establish the mineral character of railroad grant land it must be
shown that known conditions on the critical date are such as rea-
sonably to engender the belief that the land contains mineral of
such quality and in such quantity as to render its extraction prof-
itable and justify expenditures to that end--

MINERAL RESERVATION

1. Lands which are reported by the Geological Survey to be prospectively
valuable for minerals subject to leasing under the Mineral Leas-
ing Act are not subject to entry or selection under the nonmineral
land laws without a mineral reservation to the United States in
accordance with the act of July 17, 1914----

2. Where a State has appealed to the Secretary from a requirement that
it file a mineral waiver for selected school indemnity land reported
to be prospectively valuable for oil and gas and the regulation
requiring such waiver is amended to eliminate the requirement,
the case will be remanded for further processing under the
amended regulation_-_

NONMINERAL ENTRIES

1. Lands which are reported by the Geological Survey to be prospectively
valuable for minerals subject to leasing under the Mineral Leas-
ing Act are not subject to entry or selection under the non-
mineral land laws without a mineral reservation to the United
States in accordance with the act of July 17, 1914___.

2. Where a State has appealed to the Secretary from a requirement that
it file a mineral waiver for selected school indemnity land re-
ported to be prospectively valuable for oil and gas and the regula-
tion requiring such waiver is amended to eliminate the require-
ment, the case will be remanded for further processing under the
amended regulation____.

MINING CLAIMS

GENERALLY

1. Where after an application for a State exchange is filed it appears
that the selected lands are covered by apparently valid mining
claims, the State, if it denies the validity of the claims, is to be
allowed a hearing on the issue of whether or not the claims are
valid

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1. A deposit of building stone fractured to a large extent into regular
rectangular shapes and sizes which are suitable for use in con-
struction without further cutting or splitting and which exist in
a greater proportion in the deposit than in other deposits of the
same stone in the vicinity is not an uncommon variety of building
stone which is locatable under the mining laws because it has a
special and distinct value where it appears that the regularly
shaped stone is usually, by customer preference, mixed with ir-
regularly shaped stone from the claim in construction usage and
that the regularly shaped stone is not shown to have any uses over
and above those of deposits of ordinary building stone in the
locality

CONTESTS

1. A decision declaring a mining claim null and void is conclusive and
will not be reopened and vacated in the absence of a strong legal
or equitable basis warranting reconsideration even though the
basis for the cancellation has been found, in other proceedings, to
be erroneous, where the claimant, who received notice of adverse
charges against his claim, fails to answer the charges as required
and fails to appeal or otherwise attack the decision declaring his
claim invalid and takes no action with respect to the claim for
many years----

2. Where after an application for a State exchange is filed it appears that
the selected lands are covered by apparently valid mining claims,
the State, if it denies the validity of the claims, is to be allowed
a hearing on the issue of whether or not the claims are valid______
3. A determination of the invalidity of a mining claim by the manager
of a land office is proper in a Government contest when the claim-
ant fails to answer within the period allowed by the depart-
mental rules of practice; it is no excuse that the contestee has
brought an action in the Federal district court to enjoin the
contest proceedings and secured a temporary restraining order
when thereafter the restraining order is dissolved and, although
the contestee appeals to the circuit court, he fails to have the in-
junction restored or a new one granted..

4. Where a mining contest was initiated by this Department and the
contestees did not file an answer but brought an action to enjoin
the proceedings in the Federal courts and secured a temporary
restraining order against the proceedings, but failed to obtain a
further stay after the district court dissolved the restraining order
or otherwise to relieve themselves of the necessity of filing an
answer to the contest complaint, the Secretary will nonetheless
entertain a petition to have a belated answer accepted where it
appears that the litigation was continued in the appellate courts
on the assumption of all parties and the courts that the contest
proceedings had been held in abeyance and no rights of third
parties are affected____

5. A determination of the invalidity of a mining claim by the manager
of a land office is proper in a private contest when the claimant

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MINING CLAIMS-Continued

CONTESTS-Continued

fails to answer within the period allowed by the departmental
rules of practice; it is no excuse that the contestee has brought an
action in the Federal district court to enjoin the contest proceed-
ings and secured a temporary restraining order when thereafter
the restraining order is dissolved and, although the contestee
appeals to the circuit court, he fails to have the injunction restored
or a new one granted___.

6. The Departmental regulation providing that, where a timely answer
is not filed in a contest proceeding, the case will be decided on the
basis of the allegations in the complaint cannot be waived in the
case of a private contest_.

DETERMINATION OF VALIDITY

1. Although a mining claim may have been valid in the past because of a
discovery on the claim of a valuable deposit of mineral, the min-
ing claim will lose its validity if the mineral deposit ceases to be
valuable because of a change in economic conditions___.

2. Mining claims located for manganese must be declared null and void
for lack of a discovery where, although manganese was sold from
some of the claims and other claims in the vicinity during World
War II and the post-war period when a Government buying pro-
gram was in existence, the evidence shows that since the end of
the buying program in 1959 the price of manganese has dropped
50 percent and sales of domestic manganese have ceased and
there is no reasonable prospect of a future market, the need for
manganese being supplied by higher grade imported manganese_-
3. A decision declaring a mining claim null and void is conclusive and
will not be reopened and vacated in the absence of a strong legal
or equitable basis warranting reconsideration even though the
basis for the cancellation has been found, in other proceedings,
to be erroneous, where the claimant, who received notice of ad-
verse charges against his claim, fails to answer the charges
as required and fails to appeal or otherwise attack the decision
declaring his claim invalid and takes no action with respect to the
claim for many years--

4. To validate a mining claim covering minerals for which a market must
be shown, it must appear that the minerals probably exist on the
claim in such quantities as will justify extraction----
DISCOVERY

1. Although a mining claim may have been valid in the past because of
a discovery on the claim of a valuable deposit of mineral, the min-
ing claim will lose its validity if the mineral deposit ceases to
be valuable because of a change in economic conditions_‒‒‒‒

2. Mining claims located for manganese must be declared null and void
for lack of a discovery where, although manganese was sold from
some of the claims and other claims in the vicinity during World
War II and the post-war period when a Government buying
program was in existence, the evidence shows that since the end
of the buying program in 1959 the price of manganese has dropped
50 percent and sales of domestic manganese have ceased and

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MINING CLAIMS Continued
DISCOVERY-Continued

there is no reasonable prospect of a future market, the need for
manganese being supplied by higher grade imported manganese__
3. To validate a mining claim covering minerals for which a market
must be shown, it must appear that the minerals probably exist
on the claim in such quantities as will justify extraction-----
4. A showing of the probable existence of minerals in such quantities as
will justify the further expenditure of labor and money with a
reasonable prospect of success in developing a valuable mine
must be made to meet the test of discovery under the mining
laws

5. Where mining claimants have not shown that deposits of talc and
silica on their claims probably exist in sufficient quantities to
justify a prudent man in spending his labor and means with a
reasonable prospect of developing a valuable mine, they have
not made a discovery of valuable mineral deposits within the
meaning of the mining laws____.

HEARINGS

1. A hearing is not required by departmental practice or by the require-
ments of due process on the rejection of an application for a patent
on mining claims which, over 25 years before the patent applica-
tion was filed, were declared null and void in adverse proceedings
or by a default decision after notice of charges against the
claims and an opportunity for a hearing thereon were given
the record title owner of the claims..
LOCATION

1. Because Revised Statute 2320 provides that no lode mining claim
shall extend more than 300 feet on each side of the middle of the
vein at the surface, a patent applicant should indicate the direc-
tion of the vein and adjust his survey accordingly if the course
of the vein diverges from a line through the center of the claim
and one of the side lines is more than 300 feet from the center of
the vein__--

1. Because Revised Statute 2320 provides that no lode mining claim
I shall extend more than 300 feet on each side of the middle of the
vein at the surface, a patent applicant should indicate the direction
of the vein and adjust his survey accordingly if the course of the
vein diverges from a line through the center of the claim and one
of the side lines is more than 300 feet from the center of the vein__
2. The Department has no power to issue a mineral patent to any surface
ground exceeding 300 feet in width on each side of the middle
of the vein or lode, and a patent so issued is void as to the excess
over 300 feet and is subject to collateral attack_.
MILL SITES

1. Land withdrawn for reclamation purposes can be opened to location
: under the mining laws only where the land is known or believed
to be valuable for minerals; consequently, nonmineral land in a
reclamation withdrawal cannot, in the absence of other considera-
760-039-659

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MINING CLAIMS Continued

MILL SITES-Continued

tions, be opened for location of a mill site, which is locatable only
on nonmineral land....

2. In opening reclamation withdrawn land to mining location it is neces-
sary that each 10-acre subdivision be mineral in character but it
is not required that every acre of the 10-acre tract be mineral in
character; consequently where a tract of land is open to mining
location and part of the land is nonmineral in character, that part
of the land can be included in a mill site___

3. A mill site claim is properly declared invalid where the claim is not
occupied or used for mining or milling purposes------

4. The use of a rehabilitated structure on land embraced in a mill site
claim as a base for occasional prospecting activities on nearby
patented lode claims and the intention to use the land in the future
for workmen's housing and an assay office presumably when the
claims are developed are not sufficient to comply with the
requirements of section 2337 of the Revised Statutes for obtaining
a mill site------

5. A mill site is properly declared invalid where the claim is not occu-
pied or used for mining or milling purposes--.

MINERAL SURVEYS

1. Because Revised Statute 2320 provides that no lode mining claim shall
extend more than 300 feet on each side of the middle of the vein
at the surface, a patent applicant should indicate the direction of
the vein and adjust his survey accordingly if the course of the
vein diverges from a line through the center of the claim and one of
the side lines is more than 300 feet from the center of the vein_---

PATENT

1. The proceedings leading to the cancellation of a mining claim will not
be reopened many years after the decision has become final in the
absence of a compelling legal or equitable basis warranting re-
consideration and an application for patent on a mining claim is
properly rejected where, more than sixteen years before the patent
application was filed, the claim had been declared null and void
and thereafter canceled___

2. The Department has no power to issue a mineral patent to any sur-
face ground exceeding 300 feet in width on each side of the middle
of the vein or lobe, and a patent so issued is void as to the excess
over 300 feet and is subject to collateral attack_

SPECIAL ACTS

1. The purchaser under a contract of sale of an undivided two-thirds
interest in a mining claim may file the verified statement required
of a mining claimant by section 5(a) of the act of July 23, 1955..
WITHDRAWN LAND

1. Land withdrawn for reclamation purposes can be opened to location
under the mining laws only where the land is known or believed
to be valuable for minerals; consequently, nonmineral land in a
reclamation withdrawal cannot, in the absence of other considera-
tions, be opened for location of a mill site, which is locatable only
on nonmineral land....

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