Disposition Code

A disposition code, which BLM calls the case disposition, is the status of a case in the Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS). BLM's national mining claim datasets describe it as "the case disposition (status)."

BLM's definitions for mining claims

The MLRS help center article "What does my case disposition mean?" defines each value. Those it lists for mining claims:

• Active: "A mining claim has been adjudicated and accepted."
• Closed: "A dead case. No further action on this case is probable." It includes "cases that has been abandoned, rejected applications, relinquished, expired, terminated or forfeited cases."
• Draft: "A newly created case that does not have the data entry completed during the initial set up in the MLRS and payment (when required) has not been submitted."
• Filed: "A newly created case for which most data entry is completed, and payment has been submitted (when required)."
• Submitted: "a Mining Claim paper claim submission that has been paid but data entry is missing, and a BLM adjudicator has not yet clicked on the File Claim button."
• Under Review: "A Mining Claim that is in the process of being adjudicated."
• On Appeal: "A closed mining claim case where an appeal claim action has been submitted and accepted for consideration."
• Appeal/Stay Granted: a closed mining claim case where "IBLA has granted a Stay of BLM's Decision."

The article lists Interim ("awaiting an action, decision, or until the appeal period expires") and Pending for other case types, but BLM's published mining claim data also shows both on some mining claims.

Two published datasets

BLM publishes mining claims as two national datasets. One holds cases "with the case disposition (status) of anything other than closed"; the other holds cases "with the case disposition (status) of closed." Both cover cases "updated or modified within the last year."

What a disposition does not say

• Closed does not give the reason. Abandonment, relinquishment, and forfeiture all end in Closed. BLM's rules treat "abandoned and void," "null and void," "void ab initio," and "forfeited" as having "the same effect" (43 CFR 3830.5). See Forfeiture.
• Active does not mean valid. Recording and paying fees "does not make a claim or site valid if it not otherwise valid under applicable law" (43 CFR 3833.1(b)). See Discovery.
• On Appeal and Appeal/Stay Granted are closed mining claims whose closure is being contested.

Why it matters in mining claim research

The disposition tells a researcher where to look next, not the answer. For a closed mining claim, the case actions and decisions in the record show why and when it closed, and that date matters when judging whether the ground was open to a later location. For Filed, Submitted, or Under Review, the mining claim has been received but BLM has not finished adjudicating it, so a new filing on the same ground may not yet appear as Active.