
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC460mm-3]

 
                         TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
 
   CHAPTER 1--NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES
 
SUBCHAPTER XCVIII--STEESE NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA AND WHITE MOUNTAINS 
                        NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
 
Sec. 460mm-3. Rights of holders of unperfected mining claims


(a) ``Unperfected mining claim'' defined

    The term ``unperfected mining claim'' as used in this section, means 
a mining claim which is located on lands within the boundaries of the 
White Mountains National Recreation Area or Steese National Conservation 
Area established pursuant to this subchapter with respect to which a 
valid mineral discovery within the meaning of the mining laws of the 
United States, was not made as of the date of the withdrawal of such 
area from further appropriation under the mining laws of the United 
States.

(b) Moratorium on contest proceedings

    Any holder of an unperfected mining claim seeking to protect such 
claim pursuant to this section must have maintained and must continue to 
maintain such claim in compliance with applicable Federal and State 
laws, and where applicable, must have obtained and complied with any 
mining access permit requirements imposed by the Department of the 
Interior during the 1979 mining season. Prior to September 30, 1982, no 
unperfected mining claim which has been maintained in accordance with 
this subsection shall be contested by the United States for failure to 
have made a valid mineral discovery within the meaning of the mining 
laws of the United States: Provided, That such claim shall be diligently 
prosecuted during this moratorium on contest proceedings as a condition 
for the moratorium. Any mining operation undertaken pursuant to this 
subsection, including but not limited to exploration, development, and 
extraction, shall be subject to such reasonable regulations as the 
Secretary may prescribe to assure that such operations will, to the 
maximum extend practicable, be consistent with protection of the scenic, 
scientific, cultural, and other resources of the Steese National 
Conservation Area or the White Mountains National Recreation Area or any 
affected conservation system units established or expanded by this Act.

(c) Valid mineral discovery

    If the holder of an unperfected mining claim notifies the Secretary 
by filing an application for a patent that, as a result of mining 
operations in compliance with the requirements of subsection (b) of this 
section, he has made a valid mineral discovery of such claim within the 
meaning of the mining laws of the United States, and if the Secretary 
determines that such claim contains a valid mineral discovery, the 
holder of such claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent only 
to the minerals in such claim pursuant to the mining laws of the United 
States. The holder of such a patent shall also be entitled to the use of 
so much of the surface estate of the lands comprising the claim as may 
be necessary for mining purposes: Provided, That all mining operations 
conducted upon a claim after such a valid mineral discovery has been 
made, shall be in accordance with such reasonable regulations as may be 
issued by the Secretary pursuant to the authority granted in subsection 
(b) of this section.

(d) Validity determination

    If an application for a patent is filed by the holder of an 
unperfected mining claim pursuant to subsection (c) of this section or 
if a contest proceeding is initiated by the United States after 
September 30, 1982, the validity of each claim shall be determined as of 
the date of the patent application or September 30, 1982, whichever is 
earlier. the holder of an unperfected mining claim not subject to a 
patent application filed prior to September 30, 1982, shall submit to 
the Secretary within one hundred and eighty days after such date all 
mineral data compiled during the contest proceeding moratorium which 
would support a valid mineral discovery within the meaning of the mining 
laws of the United States. Failure to submit such data within the one-
hundred-and-eighty-day period shall preclude its consideration in a 
subsequent determination of the validity of each affected claim. Except 
as specifically provided for in this section, nothing shall alter the 
criteria applied under the general mining laws of the United States to 
adjudicate the validity of unperfected mining claims.

(e) Access to claims

    Pursuant to the provisions of this section and section 3170 of this 
title, reasonable access shall be granted to an unperfected mining claim 
for purposes of making a valid discovery of mineral until September 30, 
1982.

(f) Preference rights

    The holder of any unperfected mining claim which was, prior to 
November 16, 1978, located, recorded, and maintained in accordance with 
applicable Federal and State laws on lands located within the boundaries 
of the Steese National Conservation Area, or the White Mountains 
National Recreation Area established by this subchapter, shall be 
entitled during a two-year period after the date that the Secretary 
exercises his authority under section 460mm-1 or 460mm-4 of this title 
to open an area containing such claim to mining, (1) to a preference 
right to rerecord his claim under applicable law and to develop such 
claim under section 460mm-1 of this title or (2) to obtain a lease to 
remove nonleasable minerals from the claim under section 460mm-4 of this 
title.

(Pub. L. 96-487, title IV, Sec. 404, Dec. 2, 1980, 94 Stat. 2397.)

                       References in Text

    The mining laws of the United States, referred to in subsecs. (a) to 
(d), are classified generally to Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining.
    This Act, referred to in subsec. (b), is Pub. L. 96-487, Dec. 2, 
1980, 94 Stat. 2371, as amended, known as the Alaska National Interest 
Lands Conservation Act. For complete classification of this Act to the 
Code, see Short Title note set out under section 3101 of this title and 
Tables.
