30 U.S.C. § 35 — Placer claims; entry and proceedings for

Page 17 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 35 § 32. Findings by jury; costs If, in any action brought pursuant to section 30 of this title, title to the ground in con- troversy shall not be established by either party, the jury shall so find, and judgment shall be entered according to the verdict. In such case costs shall not be allowed to either party, and the claimant shall not proceed in the land office or be entitled to a patent for the ground in con- troversy until he shall have perfected his title. (Mar. 3, 1881, ch. 140, 21 Stat. 505.) § 33. Existing rights All patents for mining claims upon veins or lodes issued prior to May 10, 1872, shall convey all the rights and privileges conferred by sec- tions 21, 22 to 24, 26 to 28, 29, 30, 33 to 48, 50 to 52, 71 to 76 of this title and section 661 of title 43 where no adverse rights existed on the 10th day of May, 1872. (R.S. § 2328.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Sections 21, 22 to 24, 26 to 28, 29, 30, 33 to 48, 50 to 52, 71 to 76 of this title and section 661 of title 43, referred to in text, were in the original ‘‘this chapter’’, meaning chapter 6 of title 32 of the Revised Statutes, consisting of R.S. §§ 2318 to 2352. CODIFICATION R.S. § 2328 derived from act May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 9, 17 Stat. 94. Provision of this section respecting prosecution of ap- plications for patents for mining claims in General Land Office, pending May 10, 1872, was omitted from the Code. § 34. Description of vein claims on surveyed and unsurveyed lands; monuments on ground to govern conflicting calls The description of vein or lode claims upon surveyed lands shall designate the location of the claims with reference to the lines of the pub- lic survey, but need not conform therewith; but where patents have been or shall be issued for claims upon unsurveyed lands, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management in extending the public survey, shall adjust the same to the boundaries of said patented claims so as in no case to interfere with or change the true loca- tion of such claims as they are officially estab- lished upon the ground. Where patents have issued for mineral lands, those lands only shall be segregated and shall be deemed to be pat- ented which are bounded by the lines actually marked, defined, and established upon the ground by the monuments of the official survey upon which the patent grant is based, and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management in executing subsequent patent surveys, whether upon surveyed or unsurveyed lands, shall be gov- erned accordingly. The said monuments shall at all times constitute the highest authority as to what land is patented, and in case of any con- flict between the said monuments of such pat- ented claims and the descriptions of said claims in the patents issued therefor the monuments on the ground shall govern, and erroneous or incon- sistent descriptions or calls in the patent de- scriptions shall give way thereto. (R.S. § 2327; Apr. 28, 1904, ch. 1796, 33 Stat. 545; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 462, 43 Stat. 1144; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION R.S. § 2327 derived from act May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 8, 17 Stat. 94. AMENDMENTS 1925—Act Mar. 3, 1925, affected words now reading ‘‘United States supervisor of surveys’’ in first and sec- ond sentences of text. These words formerly read ‘‘the surveyor-general.’’ This act abolished the office of sur- veyor general, and transferred to and consolidated with the Field Surveying Service, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Supervisor of Surveys, the administration, equipment, etc., of such office. Executive Documents TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS Director of the Bureau of Land Management, sub- stituted for United States Supervisor of Surveys wher- ever appearing. In the establishment of the Bureau of Land Management by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, eff. July 16, 1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, the office of Supervisor of Surveys was abolished and the functions and powers were trans- ferred to the Secretary of the Interior, to be performed by such officers or agencies of the Department as might be designated by the Secretary. Under that authority, the functions and powers formerly exercised by the Su- pervisor of Surveys were delegated to the Chief Cadas- tral Engineer, subject to the supervision of the Direc- tor of the Bureau of Land Management. In the general reorganization and realignment of functions of the Bu- reau, the office of the Chief Cadastral Engineer was abolished, and the functions of that office have been delegated to the Director of the Bureau of Land Man- agement. See 43 C.F.R. § 9180.0–3(a)(1). See also note set out under section 1 of this title. § 35. Placer claims; entry and proceedings for patent under provisions applicable to vein or lode claims; conforming entry to legal sub- divisions and surveys; limitation of claims; homestead entry of segregated agricultural land Claims usually called ‘‘placers,’’ including all forms of deposit, excepting veins of quartz, or other rock in place, shall be subject to entry and patent, under like circumstances and condi- tions, and upon similar proceedings, as are pro- vided for vein or lode claims; but where the lands have been previously surveyed by the United States, the entry in its exterior limits shall conform to the legal subdivisions of the public lands. And where placer claims are upon surveyed lands, and conform to legal subdivi- sions, no further survey or plat shall be re- quired, and all placer-mining claims located after the 10th day of May 1872, shall conform as near as practicable with the United States sys- tem of public-land surveys, and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys, and no such loca- tion shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant; but where placer claims cannot be conformed to legal subdivi- Page 18 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 36 sions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands; and where by the segregation of mineral land in any legal subdivision a quan- tity of agricultural land less than forty acres re- mains, such fractional portion of agricultural land may be entered by any party qualified by law, for homestead purposes. (R.S. §§ 2329, 2331; Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 561, § 4, 26 Stat. 1097.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION R.S. § 2329 derived from act July 9, 1870, ch. 235, § 12, 16 Stat. 217. R.S. § 2331 derived from act May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 10, 17 Stat. 94. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SUBMERGED LANDS ACT Provisions of this section as not amended, modified or repealed by the Submerged Lands Act, see section 1303 of Title 43, Public Lands. § 36. Subdivisions of 10-acre tracts; maximum of placer locations; homestead claims of agri- cultural lands; sale of improvements Legal subdivisions of forty acres may be sub- divided into ten-acre tracts; and two or more persons, or associations of persons, having con- tiguous claims of any size, although such claims may be less than ten acres each, may make joint entry thereof; but no location of a placer claim, made after the 9th day of July 1870, shall exceed one hundred and sixty acres for any one person or association of persons, which location shall conform to the United States surveys; and noth- ing in this section contained shall defeat or im- pair any bona fide homestead claim upon agri- cultural lands, or authorize the sale of the im- provements of any bona fide settler to any pur- chaser. (R.S. § 2330; Mar. 3, 1891, ch. 561, § 4, 26 Stat. 1097.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION R.S. § 2330 derived from act July 9, 1870, ch. 235, § 12, 16 Stat. 217. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries SUBMERGED LANDS ACT Provisions of this section as not amended, modified or repealed by the Submerged Lands Act, see section 1303 of Title 43, Public Lands. § 37. Proceedings for patent where boundaries contain vein or lode; application; statement including vein or lode; issuance of patent: acreage payments for vein or lode and placer claim; costs of proceedings; knowledge af- fecting construction of application and scope of patent Where the same person, association, or cor- poration is in possession of a placer claim, and also a vein or lode included within the bound- aries thereof, application shall be made for a patent for the placer claim, with the statement that it includes such vein or lode, and in such case a patent shall issue for the placer claim, subject to the provisions of sections 21, 22 to 24, 26 to 28, 29, 30, 33 to 48, 50 to 52, 71 to 76 of this title and section 661 of title 43, including such vein or lode, upon the payment of $5 per acre for such vein or lode claim, and twenty-five feet of surface on each side thereof. The remainder of the placer claim, or any placer claim not em- bracing any vein or lode claim, shall be paid for at the rate of $2.50 per acre, together with all costs of proceedings; and where a vein or lode, such as is described in section 23 of this title, is known to exist within the boundaries of a placer claim, an application for a patent for such plac- er claim which does not include an application for the vein or lode claim shall be construed as a conclusive declaration that the claimant of the placer claim has no right of possession of the vein or lode claim; but where the existence of a vein or lode in a placer claim is not known, a patent for the placer claim shall convey all valuable mineral and other deposits within the boundaries thereof. (R.S. § 2333.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Sections 21, 22 to 24, 26 to 28, 29, 30, 33 to 48, 50 to 52, 71 to 76 of this title and section 661 of title 43, referred to in text, were in the original ‘‘this chapter’’, meaning chapter 6 of title 32 of the Revised Statutes, consisting of R.S. §§ 2318 to 2352. CODIFICATION R.S. § 2333 derived from act May 10, 1872, ch. 152, § 11, 17 Stat. 94. § 38. Evidence of possession and work to estab- lish right to patent Where such person or association, they and their grantors, have held and worked their claims for a period equal to the time prescribed by the statute of limitations for mining claims of the State or Territory where the same may be situated, evidence of such possession and work- ing of the claims for such period shall be suffi- cient to establish a right to a patent thereto under sections 21, 22 to 24, 26 to 28, 29, 30, 33 to 48, 50 to 52, 71 to 76 of this title and section 661 of title 43, in the absence of any adverse claim; but nothing in such sections shall be deemed to impair any lien which may have attached in any way whatever to any mining claim or property thereto attached prior to the issuance of a pat- ent. (R.S. § 2332.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Sections 21, 22 to 24, 26 to 28, 29, 30, 33 to 48, 50 to 52, 71 to 76 of this title and section 661 of title 43, referred to in text, were in the original ‘‘this chapter’’, meaning chapter 6 of title 32 of the Revised Statutes, consisting of R.S. §§ 2318 to 2352. CODIFICATION R.S. § 2332 derived from act July 9, 1870, ch. 235, § 13, 16 Stat. 217.