Mineral Rights and Mining Claims
Mineral rights can be obtained on State or Federal
lands that are open to mineral entry. Mining claims, leases, and
mineral material sales apply to Federal Lands. Prospecting permits,
leases, and material sales apply to State Trust Land. The process is
complex, but can be accomplished by the average citizen.
- The minimum recording expenditure is about $180 per
new federal mining claim.
- Mining claims cannot be used as a residence or home site.
- Under the current moratorium on patenting claims, no title to
the land can be obtained.
Two publications are essential if you intend to acquire mineral
rights in Arizona:
- Special Report SR12,
Laws and Regulations Governing Mineral Rights in Arizona
- Special Report SR23,
Manual for Determination of Status and Ownership,
Arizona Mineral and Water Rights
.
They may be ordered from DMMR's
publication list or perused at the
Department's office or some libraries. Recent changes to regulations and
fees are posted in Circular 104.
Acquiring Mineral Rights
The steps in acquiring mineral rights are generally as follows:
- Find an area of interest and determine its legal
description (i.e. Township, Range, Section, etc.)
- Determine surface and subsurface ownership status as
explained in Manual for Determination of Status and Ownership,
Arizona Mineral and Water Rights
- Acquire and
maintain mineral rights as described in Laws and Regulations
Governing Mineral Rights in Arizona.
Arizona Mining Claim Forms
Laws and Regulations Governing Mineral Rights in Arizona
contains the following forms related to Federal mining claims:
- Location Notice for Lode Mining Claim,
- Location Notice for Placer Mining Claim,
- Claim Map,
- Notice of Non-liability for Labor and Materials Furnished,
- Affidavit of Performance of Annual Work,
- Notice of Intent to Hold Mining Claims - Certification of Payment
of Rental Fee.
- A form for listing additional claims is also provided.
- DMMR added a new form in 2005 for recording and filing the Maintenance
Fee Payment.
Click here to
Download the mining claim forms
(pdf format).
Links to specific land management agencies minerals information:
Bureau of Land Management:
The
Bureau of Land Management's Arizona Office
has additional information related to
minerals and mining.
The following links are suggested:
The latter includes a link to the form 3830-2, Maintenance Fee Waiver Certification
in pdf format. Lands status plats and supplemental information can be viewed and
downloaded at the Master Title Plat search page.
The BLM also offers two online records research tools, the much improved
LR2000,
for retrieving claim and lease records. Another useful and easy to use tool is the map viewer
Geocommunicator.
It links to LR2000 to provide claim detail and readily provides maps
of open or claimed areas, surface management, easements, topography, etc. For other assistance call
the Arizona State Office of the BLM at 602-417-9200.
Forest Service
The Forest Service has additional information related to
mining claims and mineral leases
within the national forest.
Arizona State Land Department - Minerals Section
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