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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 399. Leases of unallotted mineral lands withdrawn from entry under mining laws
Authority of Secretary of the Interior to lease - The Secretary
of the Interior is authorized and empowered, under general
regulations to be fixed by him and under such terms and conditions
as he may prescribe, not inconsistent with the terms of this
section, to lease to citizens of the United States, or to any
association of such persons, or to any corporation organized under
the laws of the United States or of any State or Territory thereof,
any part of the unallotted lands within any Indian reservation
within the States of Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada,
New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, or Wyoming withdrawn prior to June
30, 1919, from entry under the mining laws for the purpose of
mining for deposits of gold, silver, copper, and other valuable
metalliferous minerals, and nonmetalliferous minerals, not
including oil and gas, which leases shall be irrevocable, except as
herein provided, but which may be declared null and void upon
breach of any of their terms.
Location of mining claims - Unallotted lands, or such portion
thereof as the Secretary of the Interior shall determine, within
Indian reservations withheld prior to June 30, 1919, from
disposition under the mining laws may be declared by the Secretary
of the Interior to be subject to exploration for the discovery of
deposits of gold, silver, copper, and other valuable metalliferous
minerals and nonmetalliferous minerals, not including oil and gas,
by citizens of the United States, and after such declaration mining
claims may be located by such citizens in the same manner as mining
claims are located under the mining laws of the United States.
Preference right of locators of claims to lease of lands - The
locators of all such mining claims, or their heirs, successors, or
assigns, shall have a preference right to apply to the Secretary of
the Interior for a lease, under the terms and conditions of this
section, within one year after the date of the location of any
mining claim, and any such locator who shall fail to apply for a
lease within one year from the date of location shall forfeit all
rights to such mining claim.
Filing copies of location notices - Duplicate copies of the
location notice shall be filed within sixty days with the
superintendent in charge of the reservation on which the mining
claim is located, and application for a lease under this section
may be filed with such superintendent for transmission, through
official channels, to the Secretary of the Interior.
Lands excepted from entry as mining claims - Lands containing
springs, water holes, or other bodies of water needed or used by
the Indians for watering livestock, irrigation, or water-power
purposes shall not be designated by the Secretary of the Interior
as subject to entry under this section.
Term of lease; renewal - Leases under this section shall be for a
period of twenty years, with the preferential right in the lessee
to renew the same for successive periods of ten years, upon such
reasonable terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the
Secretary of the Interior, unless otherwise provided by law at the
time of the expiration of such periods.
Relinquishment of rights by lessee - The lessee may, in the
discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, be permitted at any
time to make written relinquishment of all rights under such a
lease and upon acceptance thereof be thereby relieved of all future
obligations under said lease.
Lease of additional land for camp sites and other purposes - In
addition to areas of mineral land to be included in leases under
this section the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, may
grant to the lessee the right to use, during the life of the lease,
subject to the payment of an annual rental of not less than $1 per
acre, a tract of unoccupied land, not exceeding forty acres in
area, for camp sites, milling, smelting, and refining works, and
for other purposes connected with and necessary to the proper
development and use of the deposits covered by the lease.
Reservation of surface of leased land to United States; easements
- The Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, in making any
lease under this section, may reserve to the United States the
right to lease for a term not exceeding that of the mineral lease,
the surface of the lands embraced within such lease under existing
law or laws hereafter enacted, insofar as said surface is not
necessary for use of the lessee in extracting and removing the
deposits therein: Provided, That the said Secretary, during the
life of the lease, is hereby authorized to issue such permits for
easements herein provided to be reserved.
Rights and duties of successors to lessees - Any successor in
interest or assignee of any lease granted under this section,
whether by voluntary transfer, judicial sale, foreclosure sale, or
otherwise, shall be subject to all the conditions of the lease
under which such rights are held and also subject to all the
provisions and conditions of this section to the same extent as
though such successor or assign were the original lessee hereunder.
Forfeiture of leases; notice - Any lease granted under this
section may be forfeited and canceled by appropriate proceedings in
the United States district court for the district in which said
property or some part thereof is situated whenever the lessee,
after reasonable notice in writing, as prescribed in the lease,
shall fail to comply with the terms of this section or with such
conditions not inconsistent herewith as may be specifically recited
in the lease.
Royalties payable by lessees - For the privilege of mining or
extracting the mineral deposits in the ground covered by the lease
the lessee shall pay to the United States, for the benefit of the
Indians, a royalty which shall not be less than 5 per centum of the
net value of the output of the minerals at the mine, due and
payable at the end of each month succeeding that of the extraction
of the minerals from the mine, and an annual rental, payable at the
date of such lease and annually thereafter on the area covered by
such lease, at the rate of not less than 25 cents per acre for the
first calendar year thereafter; not less than 50 cents per acre for
the second, third, fourth, and fifth years, respectively; and not
less than $1 per acre for each and every year thereafter during the
continuance of the lease, except that such rental for any year
shall be credited against the royalties as they accrue for that
year.
Development work by locators or lessees; damage to land - In
addition to the payment of the royalties and rentals as herein
provided the lessee shall expend annually not less than $100 in
development work for each mining claim located or leased in the
same manner as an annual expenditure for labor or improvements is
required to be made under the mining laws of the United States:
Provided, That the lessee shall also agree to pay all damages
occasioned by reason of his mining operations to the land or
allotment of any Indian or to the crops or improvements thereon.
Cutting timber by lessees - No timber shall be cut upon the
reservation by the lessee except for mining purposes and then only
after first obtaining a permit from the superintendent of the
reservation and upon payment of the fair value thereof.
Examination of books and accounts of lessees - The Secretary of
the Interior is authorized to examine the books and accounts of
lessees, and to require them to submit statements, representations,
or reports, including information as to cost of mining, all of
which statements, representations, or reports so required shall be
upon oath, unless otherwise specified, and in such form and upon
such blanks as the Secretary of the Interior may require; and any
person making any false statement, representation, or report under
oath or in any declaration, certificate, verification, or statement
under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title
28 shall be subject to punishment as for perjury.
Disposition of rentals and royalties - All moneys received from
royalties and rentals under the provisions of this section shall be
deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the
Indians belonging and having tribal rights on the reservation where
the leased land is located, which moneys shall be at all times
subject to appropriation by Congress for their benefit, unless
otherwise provided by treaty or agreement ratified by Congress:
Provided, That such moneys shall be subject to the laws authorizing
the pro rata distribution of Indian tribal funds.
Protection of interests of Indians - The Secretary of the
Interior is authorized to perform any and all acts and to make such
rules and regulations not inconsistent with this section as may be
necessary and proper for the protection of the interests of the
Indians and for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this
section into full force and effect: Provided, That nothing in this
section shall be construed or held to affect the right of the
States or other local authority to exercise any rights which they
may have to levy and collect taxes upon improvements, output of
mines, or other rights, property, or assets of any lessee.
Mining locations by and leases to Indians declared competent -
Mining locations, under the terms of this section, may be made on
unallotted lands within Indian reservations by Indians who have
heretofore or may hereafter be declared by the Secretary of the
Interior to be competent to manage their own affairs; and the said
Secretary is authorized and empowered to lease such lands to such
Indians in accordance with the provisions of this section.
Mining locations by and leases to other Indians - The Secretary
of the Interior is authorized to permit other Indians to make
locations and obtain leases under the provisions of this section,
under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe in regard to
the working, developing, disposition, and selling of the products,
and the disposition of the proceeds thereof of any such mine by
such Indians.
"Metalliferous" defined - Wherever the term "metalliferous" is
used in this section it shall be defined and construed by the
Secretary of the Interior to include magnesite, gypsum, limestone,
and asbestos.
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