§ 3833.0-5 - Definitions.

As used in this subpart:

(a) FLPMA means the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended (43 U.S.C. 1701) et seq.).

(b) Unpatented mining claim means a lode mining claim or a placer mining claim located and held under the General Mining Law of 1872, as amended (30 U.S.C. 21-54), for which a patent under 30 U.S.C. 29 and 43 CFR part 3860 has not been issued.

(c) Mill site means any land located under 30 U.S.C. 42 for which patent under 30 U.S.C. 42 and 43 CFR part 3860 has not been issued.

(d) Tunnel site means a tunnel located pursuant to 30 U.S.C. 27.

(e) Owner or claimant means the person who is, under State or Federal law, the holder of the right to sell or transfer all or any part of an unpatented mining claim, mill site, or tunnel site. The name of the owner and his or her current address shall be identified on all instruments required to be recorded or filed by the regulations in this subpart.

(f) Federal lands means any lands or interest in lands owned by the United States, except lands within units of the National Park System, which are subject to location under the General Mining Law of 1872, supra, including, but not limited to, those lands within forest reservations in the National Forest System and wildlife refuges in the National Wildlife Refuge System.

(g) Proper BLM office means the Bureau of Land Management State Office listed in § 1821.2-1(d) of this title having jurisdiction over the land in which the claims or sites are located. In Alaska, the Northern District Office's Records and Public Information Unit, located in Fairbanks, may also receive and record documents, filings, and fees for all mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites located in the State of Alaska.

(h) Date of location or located means the date determined by State law in the local jurisdiction in which the unpatented mining claim, mill or tunnel site is situated.

(i) Copy of the official record means a legible reproduction or duplicate, except microfilm, of the instrument which was or will be filed under state law in the local jurisdiction where the claim or site is located. It also includes and exact reproduction, duplicate, except microfilm, of an amended instrument which may change or alter the description of the claim or site.

(j) Affidavit of assessment work means the instrument required under state law that certifies that assessment work required by 30 U.S.C. 28 has been performed on, or for the benefit of, a mining claim or, if state law does not require the filing of such an instrument, an affidavit evidencing the performance of such assessment work; and

(k) Notice of intention to hold a mining claim means an instrument containing the information required in § 3833.2-5 of this title which has been or will be filed under state law in the local jurisdiction indicating that the owner continues to have an interest in the claim.

(l) Notice of intention to hold a mill or tunnel site means an instrument containing the information in the form required in § 3833.2-5 of this title indicating that the owner continues to hold an interest in the site.

(m) File or filed means being received and date stamped by the proper BLM office. For purposes of complying with §§ 3833.1-2, 3833.1-3, 3833.1-5, 3833.1-6, 3833.1-7, or 3833.2, a filing or fee required by any of these sections is timely if received within the time period prescribed by law, or, if mailed to the proper BLM office, is contained within an envelope clearly postmarked by a bona fide mail delivery service within the period prescribed by law and received by the proper BLM State Office by 15 calendar days subsequent to such period, except as provided in § 1821.2-2(e) of this title if the last day falls on a day the office is closed.

(n) Assessment year is defined in 30 U.S.C. 28 and commences at 12 o'clock noon on September 1st of each year. For the purpose of complying with the requirements of section 314(a) of the Act, the calendar year in which the assessment year ends is the year for which the evidence of annual assessment work shall be filed.

(o) Filing period means the time period during which documents and fees are required to be provided to the proper BLM office. Except for filings and recordings required of a small miner qualifying for a waiver under § 3833.1-7 of this title, filings under FLPMA that would have been due on December 30, 1994, and each December 30 through and including December 30, 2004, are waived effective January 1, 1994, and so long thereafter as the Act of November 5, 2001, is in effect.

(p) Amended location means a location that is in furtherance of an earlier valid location and that may or may not take in different or additional unappropriated ground. An amendment may:

(1) Correct or clarify defects or omissions in the original notice or certificate of location; or

(2) Change the legal description, mining claim name, position of discovery or boundary monuments, or similar items.

An amended location notice relates back to the original location notice date. No amendment is possible if the original location is void. An amendment to a notice or certificate of location shall not be used to effect a transfer of ownership of interest or to add owners. Such transfers or additions shall only be filed with the proper State Office of the BLM pursuant to § 3833.3.

(q) Relocation means the establishment of a new mining claim, mill site, or tunnel site. A relocation may not be established by the use of an amended location notice, but requires a new original location notice or certificate as prescribed by state law.

(r) Annual filing means either an affidavit of assessment work or a notice of intention to hold the mining claim, mill site, or tunnel site.

(s) Authorized officer means any employee of the Bureau of Land Management to whom authority has been delegated to perform the duties described in this subpart.

(t) Small miner means a claimant/owner of a mining claim(s), that meets the requirements of §§ 3833.1-6 and 3833.1-7.

(u) Age of discretion means that age at which, pursuant to State law, an individual is legally entitled to manage his or her own affairs, and to enjoy civic rights.

(v) Maintenance fee means the annual $100 payment required by 30 U.S.C. 28f, as amended by the Act of November 5, 2001 (115 Stat. 414), to hold and maintain a mining claim, mill site, or tunnel site. The requirement to pay a maintenance fee does not apply to any claim located after September 29, 2003.

(w) Location fee means the one time $25 payment required by 30 U.S.C. 28g, as amended by the Act of November 5, 2001, for all new mining claims and mill and tunnel sites located upon the public lands on or after August 11, 1993, and before September 30, 2003. The location fee shall be paid at the time the mining claim or site is recorded with the proper BLM office.

(x) Related party means:

(1) The spouse and dependent children of the claimant as defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or

(2) A person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the claimant.

(y) Control means, as defined in 30 U.S.C. 28g, as amended by the Act of November 5, 2001, actual control, legal control, and the power to exercise control, through or by common directors, officers, stockholders, a voting trust, or a holding company or investment company, or any other means.

(z) Forfeiture means the consequences of an act or failure to act that results in an unpatented mining claim, mill, or tunnel site being deemed to be by operation of law abandoned or null and void. The term has the same meaning whether it is used in the noun form or in the verb form “forfeit” or “forfeited.”

(aa) Returnable means that a check or negotiable instrument, including a valid credit card order, is received by the authorized officer but not yet processed through the accounting system of the Bureau of Land Management, and can be returned to the originator without processing of a refund check through the United States Treasury pursuant to § 3833.1-1.

(bb) Refundable means that a check or negotiable instrument, including a valid credit card order, has been processed through the accounting system of the Bureau of Land Management, and cannot be returned to the originator without the processing of a refund check through the United States Treasury or the crediting to a credit card account pursuant to § 3833.1-1.