Annual Filing
The yearly payment or documents required to hold an unpatented mining claim: the maintenance fee or a waiver by September 1, and in some cases an annual FLPMA document by December 30.
Detailed Definition
Annual filing covers what a claimant must pay or file each year to keep an unpatented mining claim or site. Two separate requirements apply: the September 1 fee (or waiver) and, for some claimants, an annual FLPMA document due December 30.
The September 1 requirement
Claimants "must pay an annual maintenance fee on or before September 1st of each year in order to maintain a mining claim or site for the upcoming assessment year" (43 CFR 3834.11(b)). The fee is $200 per lode claim, mill site, or tunnel site, or $200 for each 20 acres of a placer claim (43 CFR 3830.21(d)). A qualified claimant may instead file a waiver by the same date; see Small Miner Exemption. BLM's brochure "Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands" says "Failure to pay the fee or file a waiver request by September 1 results in the claim or site becoming forfeited by operation of law."
Annual FLPMA documents
These are "either a notice of intent to hold, or an affidavit of assessment work" (43 CFR 3830.5). They are due "on or before the December 30th of the calendar year in which the assessment year ends" (43 CFR 3835.31(a)). Whether one is required depends on the claimant's situation (43 CFR 3835.31(d)):
- Paid maintenance fees: no affidavit and no notice of intent to hold
- Small miner waiver covering mining claims: affidavit of assessment work
- Small miner waiver covering mill or tunnel sites: notice of intent to hold
- Reclamation waiver, denial-of-access waiver, or deferment of assessment work: notice of intent to hold
- Final certificate issued on a mineral patent application: neither
Filing with the county and with BLM
The statute requires the document to be recorded "in the office where the location notice or certificate is recorded" and a copy filed with BLM (43 U.S.C. 1744(a)). The BLM copy must be an exact reproduction of what was filed or will be filed in the county, with the name and serial number of each mining claim and a processing fee for each (43 CFR 3835.32, 3835.33). State county deadlines differ. The brochure says "Most states require filing within 30 to 90 days after the end of the assessment year (September 1)." Alaska requires the labor affidavit "within 90 days after September 1" (AS 27.10.160).
If it is missed
"If you fail to file an annual FLPMA document by December 30, as required in § 3835.31(d), you forfeit the affected mining claims or sites" (43 CFR 3835.91).
Why it matters in mining claim research
Each assessment year has to be accounted for: a fee, or a waiver plus a December 30 filing. Research lines up payments and filings year by year against the BLM record and the county index, since a single missed year can end a mining claim.
Related Terms
BLM (Bureau of Land Management)
The Bureau of Land Management, the Interior Department agency that manages the federal mineral estate and records and maintains unpatented mining claims and sites.
Assessment Work
The annual labor or improvements, worth at least $100 per mining claim, that a claimant under the small miner waiver performs instead of paying the BLM maintenance fee.
Mining Claim Maintenance Fee
The annual fee paid to BLM to hold an unpatented mining claim or site: $200 per lode claim, mill site, or tunnel site, and $200 per 20 acres of placer claim, due by September 1.
Abandonment
The end of a mining claim, either by the owner voluntarily giving it up with intent to abandon, or by statute when a required recording or filing is missed.
Forfeiture
The loss of an unpatented mining claim or site by operation of law for failing to record, pay the location or maintenance fee, file a waiver or annual document, or for locating on closed land.
Small Miner Exemption
A waiver of the annual BLM maintenance fee for a claimant who, with all related parties, holds 10 or fewer mining claims and sites and performs annual assessment work instead.
Active Claim
A mining claim that BLM's Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS) shows with the case disposition Active, defined as adjudicated and accepted.