Show ON INDIAN reservations by J R jones section 26 of the indian appropriation act of june 30 1919 authorizes the boca location of mining claims for minerals on such land within indian reservations as the secretary of the interior may designate up to date the secretary has designated as being opened to such locations certain parts of the following reservations tion s arizona moqui indian reservation salt river indian reservation san carlos indian reservation walapai indian reservation colorado river indian reservation fort apache indian reservation and western navajo indian reservation arizona and new mexico san juan indian reservation navajo indian reservation hoopa holpa valley indian reservation tule river indian reservation fort yuma indian reservation and morongo indian reservation idaho fort hall indian reservation and nez perce indian reservation fort laprai lapwai school montana rocky boy indian reservation and tongue river indian reservation nevada pyramid lake indian reservation nevada school and western shoshone indian reservation new mexico mescalero indian reservation and pueblo bonito indian reservation oregon warm springs indian reservation washington yakima indian reservation and neah bay indian reservation location regulations locations are to be made in the same manner as a location would be made on public lands under the mining law but within sixty days after malting making the location it should be recorded with the superintend ent in charge of the reservation the location may be held for one year only and during that time if the locator desires bocon to continue his mining operations he should apply to the superintendent for a lease the lessee will have the right to mine only within the exterior boundaries of the leased land in other words no right will attach to any location or lease in conformity with the mining laws individual placer locations will be limited to twenty alenty acres those for two persons to forty acres and a claim of an association consisting of eight or more persons to acres if on surveyed land they must be located in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the survey if on land they must be marked in the same manner as lode locations but shall conform as nearly as practicable to what would be public land surveys and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys before a lease is granted covering any location the claim must be surveyed by a united states deputy mineral surveyor royalty on production each lessee will pay a royalty on production computed on the net value of the output of the minerals at the mine this royalty will not be less than 5 per cent but in view of the impossibility of fixing in advance by regulation the exact royalty to imposed upon the different minerals found the royalty governing each lease will be fixed and determined prior to the issuance of the lease and incorporated therein the term net value of the output of the minerals at the mine is construed to mean the gross value of the ores less the cost of the mining said ores the cost of concentration of handling of transportation of shipping from the mouth of the mine to the works where the ore is treated and the cost of milling reducing or smelting smelling sm elting cost of mining said ore covers only the cost of mining and the ore produced and brought out of the mine during the month and does not include cost of prospecting of preliminary workings or the cost of the mining plant advance annual rental in addition to the royalty on production the lessee will be required to pay an advance annual rental of 25 cents per acre for the first year 50 cents per acre for the second third fourth and fifth years respectively and 1 per acre for each year thereafter the rental for any one year to be credited against the royalties as they accrue for that year and to expend annually not less than in development work for mining claim located or leased in the same manner as required under the mining laws of the united states lessees lessels will be permitted to use not to exceed forty acres of unoccupied land for the purpose of a camp site milling smelting smelling sm elting and refining works or for other purposes connected with the development of the leased land an annual charge of not less than 1 per acre will be made for such a permit lessees lessels will be required to carry on mining operations to the fullest practicable extent the state of the market being considered si e the law provides thattie that the means of cancelling the lease for failure to observe any of its provisions shall be by a proceeding in the united states district court for the district in which the land or part of it is situated A copy of the law and regulations including the form of lease etc may be obtained from the superintendent of any of the reservations referred to above the regulations were approved by the secretary of the interior on september 16 1919 and go into effect forty five days from the date of said approval monthly report of investigations bureau of mines department of the interior meagre surface showings jn in many instances meagre meag resurface surface showings not connected with the underlying deposits have been claimed as discoveries and even made the basis of patent proceedings in the early days the land department did not critically examine into the matter of discovery unless the question were raised by protest or contest and large numbers of such claims were patented this was the case at bisbee arizona where the ore formation occurs at a depth of 1000 feet or more in later years the department has established the practice of requiring a detailed showing as to the character and quality of discovery claimed and of making through its field service an investigation on the ground As a result the department has been confronted with the question as to whether inconsequent inconsequential al mineral showings in the overburden could be accepted as sufficient to constitute discovery as in the case of the rough rider and other claims which were finally patented because it was felt that the previous patenting of similar claims in the vicinity had established esta blushed a rule of property mineral discovery required but generally speaking lands of the character contemplated by the proposed legislation cannot now be patented under the existing mining laws unless discoveries are made by deep drilling or shaft sinking on the other hand large areas of such land were in the early days patented under the non mineral laws under the rule which then prevailed that land could not be classified as mineral in character or patented as a mining claim unless mineral had been actually disclosed in recent years however the department has adopted the rule that through I 1 geological le deduction as to underlying deposits land may be classified as known mineral in character and now declines to patent such lands under the laws there are thus large areas of land in the four states mentioned which the land department part ment recognizes or would recognize ze as being mineral in character but which remain undeveloped because title thereto cannot as a practical proposition be acquired under the present mining law proposed legislation to justify the great expense of exploration by drilling or sinking shafts to a great depth as well as the great outlay in working shafts machinery and equipment for actual mining operations it is necessary that a reasonably large acreage be acquired or controlled troll ed to operate on the extensive scale required not only are extensive ore bodies requisite but a large area of surface is also required for reduction plants tailing dumps etc the proposed legislation is designed to encourage the exploration and development of such lands by giving to any one who will undertake deep exploration work the right to control and acquire an area of not to exceed 1280 acres which is about the minimum area now held by any of the large porphyry copper mining companies upon conditions carefully designed to prevent abuse of the privilege text of the bill be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the united states of america in congress assembled that the secretary of the interior is hereby authorized and directed under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe to issue to citizens of the united states or to any association of such persons or to any corporation organized under the laws of the united states or any state or territory thereof prospecting permits which shall give the exclusive right for a period of three years to prospect for deposits of copper in rock in place underlying an overburden of wash conglomerate or eral bearing formation in tracts of land in the states of arizona new mexico nevada or utah belonging to the united states containing one thousand two hundred and eighty acres orless or less upon coridi condition tion that the person association or corporation receiving any such permit shall begin operations within one year from the date of the permit and shall within two years fr from om and after the date of the permit drill one or more test holes or sink one or more test shafts to a depth of not less than feet unless a deposit of copper be sooner discovered and shall within three years from and after the date of the permit drill a test hole or holes or sink a test shaft or shafts to an aggregate depth of not less than 1500 feet unless a deposit of copper be sooner discovered and if it appears that the shall have complied with the foregoing requirements but failed to discover any deposit of copper upon application such permit shall be extended for a further period of three years upon condition that the shall during each year of such extension drill or sink feet unless a deposit of copper be sooner discovered and the secretary of the interior may it if he shall find that the has been unable with the exercise of diligence to test the land in the time granted by the permit or such extension thereof extend any such permit for such further time and upon such conditions as he shall prescribe with a view to the exploration of the land embraced in the permit provided that a tunnel or drift of length equal to the depth required for a drill hole or test shaft as hereinbefore provided shall be regarded as the equivalent of any such drill hole or test shaft so required rules governing location see sec 2 that whether the land sought in any application be surveyed or the applicant shall prior to filing his application for permit locate such land in a reasonably compact form and according to the legal subdivisions of the public land surveys if the land be surveyed or in an approximately square or rectangular form if the land be an tract the length of which shall not exceed two and one half times its width if the applicant shall cause to be erected upon the land for which a permit is sought a monument not less than four feet high at some conspicuous place thereon and shall place a notice in writing on or near such monument stating that an application for permit will be made within thirty days after date of said notice the name of the applicant the date of the notice and such general description of the land to be covered by such permit by reference to courses and distances from such monument and such other natural objects and permanent monuments as will reasonably identify the land stating the amount thereof iri acres he shall during the period of thirty days following such marking and posting be entitled to a preference right over others to a permit for the land so identified provided that where lands of the character hereinbefore mentioned have been located and held as mining claims and annual assessment work done thereon as required by law the locator or holder thereof or the locator or holder of the prior location thereof in case of conflicting locations shall have the preference right to a prospecting permit hereunder the applicant shall within ninety days after receiving the permit mark each of the corners of the tract described in the permit upon the ground with substantial monuments so that the boundaries can be readily traced on the ground and shall post in a conspicuous place upon the land a notice that such permit has been granted and a description of the lands covered thereby and cause such permit to be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county in which the lands described in said permit are situated discovery of mineral sec 3 that upon the discovery of a valuable deposit of copper within the limits of the land embraced in any permit and proof of the expenditure in labor and improvements prove ments thereon of not less than a sum equal to 25 for each acre thereof and upon the payment to the proper officer of 5 per acre the shall be entitled to a patent for such tract of land to be described by the legal subdivisions of the public land survey if surveyed or it if to be surveyed by the government at the expense of the in accordance with the rules and regulations to be prescribed by the secretary of the interior and the lands patented shall be conformed to and taken in accordance with the legal subdivisions of such survey and deposits made to cover the expense of surveys shall be deemed appropriated for that purpose and any aily excess deposits may be repaid to the person or persons making such deposits or thelt their legal representatives see sec 4 that this act shall not apply to any lands in any military or indian reservation national park or national monument or lands in any coal oil gas or phosphate reserve or withdrawal |