PRIA Logo™
Title 30, Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-102

§123 Persons Locating Lands Subsequently Withdrawn or Classified; Patents To

Title 30 › CHAPTER 3 — LANDS CONTAINING COAL, OIL, GAS, SALTS, ASPHALTIC MATERIALS, SODIUM, SULPHUR, AND BUILDING STONE › SUBCHAPTER V — AGRICULTURAL ENTRY OF LANDS WITHDRAWN OR CLASSIFIED AS CONTAINING PHOSPHATE, NITRATE, POTASH, OIL, GAS, ASPHALTIC MINERALS, SODIUM, OR SULPHUR › § 123

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Gives people who honestly claimed or bought land under U.S. nonmineral land laws after July 17, 1914 the right to apply for and get an official title if the land is later set aside or reported valuable for phosphate, nitrate, potash, oil, gas, or asphaltic minerals. The title keeps those mineral deposits for the United States and lets the U.S. prospect for, mine, and remove them.

Full Legal Text

Title 30, §123

Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Any person who has, in good faith, located, selected, entered, or purchased, or any person who shall locate, select, enter, or purchase, after July 17, 1914, under the nonmineral land laws of the United States, any lands which are subsequently withdrawn, classified, or reported as being valuable for phosphate, nitrate, potash, oil, gas, or asphaltic minerals, may, upon application therefor, and making satisfactory proof of compliance with the laws under which such lands are claimed, receive a patent therefor, which patent shall contain a reservation to the United States of all deposits on account of which the lands were withdrawn, classified, or reported as being valuable, together with the right to prospect for, mine, and remove the same.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

North Platte Reclamation Project; Entry Prior to July 17, 1914; Mineral RightsPatents for lands in North Platte Reclamation Proj­ect not to contain reservations of minerals in certain cases, see section 125 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

30 U.S.C. § 123

Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102