§482h Coronado National Forest; Mining Rights

Summary

After March 15, 1940, any mining claim made under U.S. mining laws on land within 400 feet of the center line of the Catalina Highway in the Coronado National Forest — the highway that starts at the forest’s south boundary near the southeast corner of section 7, township 13 south, range 16 east, Gila and Salt River base and meridian, and runs north about twenty-five miles to Soldier Camp — only gives the claimant the right to use as much surface as is reasonably needed to prospect and mine and only to take the mineral deposits. The claim does not allow taking other resources or using the land for other purposes, and any patent issued later will transfer only the mineral rights and the limited surface use allowed under the forest’s rules. Valid mining claims that existed on March 15, 1940, and were kept up under the original federal laws and Arizona law may still be perfected under those same laws.