Adverse Claim
A sworn challenge by a rival mining claimant to a mineral patent application, filed during the 60-day publication period and followed by a court suit to decide the right of possession.
Detailed Definition
An adverse claim is a challenge by a rival mining claimant to an application for a mineral patent. BLM Manual Section 3870 defines it as "a legal challenge under 30 U.S.C. 29 and 30 where a rival mining claimant comes forward and asserts that they have mining claims covering part or all of the land applied for in the mineral patent application."
When it must be filed
A patent applicant posts a plat and notice on the ground, and notice of the application is published for 60 days in the newspaper nearest the claim (30 U.S.C. 29). An adverse claim must be filed within that period (43 CFR 3871.3(a)). If none is filed, the statute says "it shall be assumed that the applicant is entitled to a patent ... and that no adverse claim exists; and thereafter no objection from third parties to the issuance of a patent shall be heard," except a showing that the applicant failed to comply with the law.
What it must contain
- It must be "upon oath" and "show the nature, boundaries, and extent of such adverse claim" (30 U.S.C. 30).
- It must state whether the adverse party claims as a purchaser or as a locator, with a certified copy of the location or the conveyance (43 CFR 3871.2(a)).
- It must include a plat showing the adverse mining claim, its position relative to the one applied for, and "the extent of the conflict" (43 CFR 3871.2(b)).
The court suit
Filing stays the patent proceedings, except publication and proof of posting, "until the controversy shall have been settled or decided by a court of competent jurisdiction, or the adverse claim waived" (30 U.S.C. 30; 43 CFR 3871.4). The adverse claimant must, "within thirty days after filing his claim," commence proceedings in court "to determine the question of the right of possession," and prosecute them "with reasonable diligence to final judgment." Failing to do so "shall be a waiver of his adverse claim." After judgment, a patent issues for the claim "or such portion thereof" as the court finds the party rightly possesses.
Adverse claim versus protest
A protest alleges that the applicant has not complied with the law, and may be filed "At any time prior to the issuance of patent" (43 CFR 3872.1). A co-owner left out of an application does not have an adverse claim and must protest instead (43 CFR 3872.1(a)).
Today
Adverse claims arise only during a patent application's publication period, and BLM has accepted no new mineral patent applications since October 1, 1994 (BLM brochure "Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands").
Why it matters in mining claim research
The patent file for an older patented mining claim may include adverse claims and the judgments that settled them, which can explain why a patent covers less ground than the application. A surface conflict lost by failing to adverse, or lost in an adverse suit, cannot be revived by protest (43 CFR 3872.1(a)).
Related Terms
Mining Claim
A parcel of federal land on which a claimant asserts the right to possess and develop a valuable mineral deposit under the Mining Law of 1872.
Patent
A document by which the United States passes title to public land. A mineral patent turns a mining claim or mill site into private land; no new patent applications have been accepted since October 1, 1994.
Seniority
The ranking of rival interests in the same ground, the earlier ahead of the later. Federal law ties some mining claim rights to dates, but BLM leaves disputes over possession to the courts.
Senior Claim
The earlier of two mining claims covering the same ground. Its priority holds only while the earlier location stays valid, recorded, and maintained.
Claim Conflict
An overlap or competing interest between a mining claim and another mining claim or site, a patent, a lease, or a withdrawal on the same ground.