§35 Placer Claims; Entry and Proceedings for Patent Under Provisions Applicable to Vein or Lode Claims; Conforming Entry to Legal Subdivisions and Surveys; Limitation of Claims; Homestead Entry of Segregated Agricultural Land

Summary

Placer mining claims — deposits that are not veins of quartz or other solid rock — can be entered and patented under the same rules and procedures that apply to vein or lode claims. If the land was already surveyed by the United States, the claim’s outer boundary must match the legal land subdivisions. If a placer claim on surveyed land already fits those subdivisions, no new survey or map is needed. Placer claims located after May 10, 1872 must, as closely as possible, fit the U.S. public-land survey system and its rectangular subdivisions, and no single claimant may include more than 20 acres. If a placer claim cannot be made to match the legal subdivisions, a survey and map must be done as if the land were unsurveyed. If taking out the mineral part of a subdivision leaves less than 40 acres of farmable land, that leftover may be entered as a homestead by any qualified person.