Chapter 12 - § 12.8 • MINING LIENS

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 12.8 • MINING LIENS

§ 12.8.1—In General

A lien on mining property may attach, if at all, under C.R.S. § 38-22-104.⁴⁶⁵ The purpose of C.R.S. § 38-22-104, when read in connection with other provisions of the mechanic's lien statute, was to give a lien on mining property upon the same conditions that a lien attaches to other property.⁴⁶⁶ The purpose of C.R.S. § 38-22-104 was to broaden, and not to restrict, the scope of the general mechanic's lien law. Thus, the right to liens under this section is not limited to the "construction, alteration, improvement, addition to, or repair"⁴⁶⁷ but extends the lien privilege to the purposes enumerated in this section.⁴⁶⁸ Nevertheless, the two sections are to be construed together.⁴⁶⁹

§ 12.8.2—Persons Entitled to Lien

With regard to mining property, the statute grants the right of lien in favor of:

• All persons who do work or furnish laborers or materials, or mining, milling, or other machinery or other fixtures for the working, preservation, prospecting, or development of any mine, lode, or mining claim or deposit yielding metals or minerals of any kind, or for the working,⁴⁷⁰ preservation, or development of any such mine, lode, or deposit, in search of any such metals or minerals.⁴⁷¹ Thus, the mining lien statute is broader than the general lien statute in that items consumed in development are lienable, as they contribute to the development of the mine.⁴⁷² The statutory phrase "deposit yielding metals or minerals" includes gold-bearing sands or gravels commonly known as "placers."⁴⁷³ Gravel supplied for use on roads leading to mines constitutes materials for the working and preservation of a mine.⁴⁷⁴
• All persons who do work upon or furnish laborers or materials, mining, milling, and other machinery or other fixtures upon, in, or for any shaft, tunnel, mill, or tunnel site, incline, adit, drift, or any draining or other improvement of or upon any such mine, lode, deposit, or tunnel site.⁴⁷⁵ Under a previous version of this section requiring work "in or upon any mine, lode, or deposit," hauling ore from the mine to the stamp mill was held not to be subject to a lien.⁴⁷⁶
• Every miner or other person who does work upon or furnishes any laborers, coal, power, provisions, timber, powder, rope, nails, candles, fuse, caps, rails, spikes, or iron, or other materials whatsoever upon any mine, lode, deposit, mill, or tunnel site.⁴⁷⁷
• Surveyors, civil and mining engineers doing any work of surveying or plotting of any

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