Title 30, Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-110

§524 Reservation of Minerals to United States

Title 30 › CHAPTER 12 — MULTIPLE MINERAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAME TRACTS › § 524

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

The United States keeps ownership of all "Leasing Act minerals" and the right to get them from certain mining claims and millsites. If a claim was located earlier and qualifies under sections 521–523, or was located after August 13, 1954, then before a patent is issued the government must reserve those minerals and the right (as limited by section 526) for the United States and its lessees, permittees, and licensees to enter the land and prospect, drill, mine, treat, store, transport, and remove those minerals, using as much surface or underground area as needed and, when reasonably necessary, to reach minerals on other lands. Any patent issued must include this reservation for lands that, when the patent is issued, were already in a permit or lease, were the subject of an application or offer for a permit or lease, or were known to be valuable for minerals covered by the mineral leasing laws.

Full Legal Text

Title 30, §524

Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Every mining claim or millsite—

(1)heretofore located under the mining laws of the United States which shall be entitled to benefits under sections 521 to 523 of this title; or

(2)located under the mining laws of the United States after August 13, 1954 shall be subject, prior to issuance of a patent therefor, to a reservation to the United States of all Leasing Act minerals and of the right (as limited in section 526 of this title) of the United States, its lessees, permittees, and licensees to enter upon the land covered by such mining claim or millsite and to prospect for, drill for, mine, treat, store, transport, and remove Leasing Act minerals and to use so much of the surface and subsurface of such mining claim or millsite as may be necessary for such purposes, and whenever reasonably necessary, for the purpose of prospecting for, drilling for, mining, treating, storing, transporting, and removing Leasing Act minerals on and from other lands; and any patent issued for any such mining claim or millsite shall contain such reservation as to, but only as to, such lands covered thereby which at the time of the issuance of such patent were—

(a)included in a permit or lease issued under the mineral leasing laws; or

(b)covered by an application or offer for a permit or lease filed under the mineral leasing laws; or

(c)known to be valuable for minerals subject to disposition under the mineral leasing laws.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

30 U.S.C. § 524

Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110