CHAPTER 7 AN OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL AND STATE MINING CLAIM RECORDS

• Jurisdiction: United States

Mineral Title Examination
(Sep 2007)
CHAPTER 7
AN OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL AND STATE MINING CLAIM RECORDS
Jon Tjornehoj
Landman and Title Attorney
Jonathan D. Tjornehoj, LLC
Longmont, Colorado

Jon Tjornehoj is an independent landman and title attorney practicing in Longmont, Colorado under the firm name Jonathan D. Tjornehoj, LLC. His work encompasses all aspects of title work for energy development projects--from compilation of abstracts to drafting of opinions to title curative needs. Jon is admitted to practice in both Colorado and Wyoming, and is a graduate of the University of Wyoming College of Law. Prior to starting his own firm, Jon spent five years as an associate attorney in the natural resources department of Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP in Denver. Jon also has experience as a field archaeologist on projects throughout the Rocky Mountain region.

I. INTRODUCTION

For the title attorney or abstractor interested in examining title to hard rock mining claims, two interrelated inquiries typically drive the process: (1) the status of the subject lands, and (2) the status of relevant mining claims. The status of the subject lands includes issues of ownership of the mineral estate prior to location and the availability of the lands for appropriation under applicable statutory or regulatory regimes. Understanding land status is a practical prerequisite to locating new mining claims, and a necessity for opining on title to existing claims.

Evaluating the status of particular claims involves not only land status issues, but additional considerations such as compliance with filing requirements and payment of maintenance fees. The need to confirm the good standing of existing mining claims may arise where interests in such claims are assigned to another entity, or where new financing is sought to expand existing mine operations. An overview of the federal and state records available to confirm title to existingmining claims is presented here.

II. FEDERAL MINING CLAIM RECORDS

A. The Basic Components

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ("FLPMA") requires owners of unpatented mining claims to, among other things, timely file location certificates and annual affidavits of assessment work with the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM").¹ Failure to comply with such filing obligations "shall be deemed conclusively to constitute an abandonment of the mining claim."² FLMPA's filing requirements "establish[] a federal recording system that is designed both to rid federal lands of stale mining claims and to provide federal lands managers with up-to-date information that allows them to make informed land management decisions."³ Federal mining claim records can be reviewed and copied at various public reading rooms maintained by the BLM, which are typically located in the state office having jurisdiction over the lands at issue.

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Arranged in order of general to specific, the system of BLM mining claim records is comprised of four basic components (1) plats, (2) indexes, (3) serial register pages, and (4) case files. Plats depict the current status of parcels of land comprising a township. The various actions leading up to the status of those parcels within a township (both past and present) are, in turn, listed in various indexes. Each of the actions described in the indexes that pertain to a particular transaction (a mining claim, for example) are then listed in a serial register page assigned to that transaction. Finally, each of the original source documents related to the actions listed in a serial register page are contained within the case file for that transaction. Each of these elements is considered in greater detail below.

B. Plats

The BLM maintains several types of plats to visually depict survey information and other current land status information for BLM-administered lands. Some of these plats depict the status of lands with respect to certain specific types of uses like coal or oil and gas. Perhaps the most useful type of plat for hard rock mineral title examination purposes is the master title plat or "MT" plat.

The MT plat provides a broad overview of all land status information pertaining to a township, including current leases, rights-of-way, patents, withdrawals and reservations. Such information is identified through symbols and shorthand notations indicated on the affected parcel. Associated with each notation will appear, if applicable, an identification number assigned to that particular action that will correlate to information contained in the BLM's indexes. A legend of the various notations appearing on BLM plats can be obtained from any BLM public room.

Significantly, while an MT plat identifies patented mining claims and provides reference to the relevant patent numbers, it does not necessarily identify all unpatented mining claims.⁴ Unpatented mining claims are depicted only in those areas that have been the subject of an official mineral survey. For that reason, an examination of the MT plat should next be supplemented with a review of relevant BLM indexes.

C. BLM Indexes

The BLM maintains several types of indexes used to catalog individual actions affecting lands within each township. The broadest of these is the historical index. It is a chronological list of all official actions affecting lands within a township. Each line in the historical index first identifies the...