The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of the U.S. is proposing rules to regulate use and occupancy of unpatented mining claims on federal lands under the 1872 Mining Law. The proposed regulations would limit the use of BLM-managed lands to mining-related activities.
The bureau also plans to amend the bonding requirements for these claims. Under the amendment, notice-level operations would be required to file a financial guarantee worth at least US$5,000. Although a plan-level operation would have to post BLM and/or state bonds equal to the estimated cost of reclamation, the amount would not exceed US$1,000 per acre for exploration or US$2,000 per acre for mining activities.
The BLM annually reviews about 2,000 notices of mining operations and 500 plans of operations. A notice-level operation causes five acres or less of disturbance per year while a plan-level operation causes more than five acres. An agency of the Department of the Interior, the BLM oversees nearly 750 active mining operations in 11 western states.
Be the first to comment on "Rules to regulate unpatented claims"