Claimant

A claimant is the owner of a mining claim or site. BLM's regulations define the term: "Claimant means the person under Federal law who is the owner of all or any part of an unpatented mining claim or site. The claimant may be someone other than the person who originally located the claim or site" (43 CFR 3830.5). The person who staked it is the locator; see Locator.

Who may hold a mining claim

BLM's brochure "Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands" says a citizen, or a person who has declared an intention to become one, "may locate and hold a mining claim or site," that "A corporation organized under state law is considered a citizen," and that "There is no limit to the number of claims and sites that one may hold as a qualified claimant."

The claimant of record

BLM deals with the owner shown in its files. "BLM will notify the claimant of record with BLM of any action it takes regarding a mining claim or site," and notice sent there is proper notice (43 CFR 3833.32(d)). Until a transfer is filed, "The Department will treat the last owner of record as the responsible party for maintaining the mining claim or site" (43 CFR 3833.92), even if a transfer is already effective under state law. See Transfer.

Duties that follow ownership

• Pay the maintenance fee, or file a small miner waiver, on or before September 1 (43 CFR 3830.21(d)). For the waiver, the count of mining claims includes "related parties": the spouse and dependent children, and anyone who "controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the claimant" (43 CFR 3830.5). See Small Miner Exemption.
• Keep an address on file. BLM's notice of a defect, sent to the address of record, "constitutes legal service even if you do not actually receive the notice or decision" (43 CFR 3830.94(a)).
• Reclaim surface disturbance. That duty survives forfeiture (43 CFR 3830.91(c)).

Co-claimants

A co-owner who does not pay a share can lose it. Under the Mining Law, after notice and ninety days, a delinquent co-owner's "interest in the claim shall become the property of his co-owners who have made the required expenditures" (30 U.S.C. 28). BLM's rules extend this to maintenance fees, set out the proof BLM requires, and bar it against a co-claimant "on active military duty" (43 CFR 3837.11, 3837.23, 3837.24). Disputes go to court "without BLM involvement" (43 CFR 3837.30(a)).

FLPMA protects co-owners in one respect: it is not a failure to file "if the instrument is filed for record by or on behalf of some but not all of the owners" (43 U.S.C. 1744(c)).

Why it matters in mining claim research

The claimant of record at BLM, the owner of record in the county, and the owner under state law can be three different people. Research traces each recorded conveyance, compares it with BLM's case record, and looks for co-claimant notices and statements that moved a share without a deed.