Title 30 — Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-73not60
§615 Limitation of Existing Rights
Title 30 › Chapter 15— SURFACE RESOURCES › Subchapter II— MINING LOCATIONS › § 615
Summary
Keeps existing rights of people who already have valid mining claims. Those rights can only be reduced by a proceeding under section 613 or by a waiver and relinquishment under section 614. It also forbids adding unauthorized limits to future mining patents and does not stop lawful reservations or use of claim lands by the United States and its authorized users.
Full Legal Text
Title 30, §615
Mineral Lands and Mining — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Nothing in this subchapter and section 601 and 603 of this title shall be construed in any manner to limit or restrict or to authorize the limitation or restriction of any existing rights of any claimant under any valid mining claim heretofore located, except as such rights may be limited or restricted as a result of a proceeding pursuant to section 613 of this title, or as a result of a waiver and relinquishment pursuant to section 614 of this title; and nothing in this subchapter and section 601 and 603 of this title shall be construed in any manner to authorized inclusion in any patent hereafter issued under the mining laws of the United States for any mining claim heretofore or hereafter located, of any reservation, limitation, or restriction not otherwise authorized by law, or to limit or repeal any existing authority to include any reservation, limitation, or restriction in any such patent, or to limit or restrict any use of the lands covered by any patented or unpatented mining claim by the United States, its lessees, permittees, and licensees which is otherwise authorized by law.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
30 U.S.C. § 615
Title 30 — Mineral Lands and Mining
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60