Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 94 Part 2.djvu/1120

 94 STAT. 2398

Post, p. 2483.

PUBLIC LAW 96-487—DEC. 2, 1980

(c) VALID MINERAL DISCOVERY.—If the holder of an unperfected mining claim notifies the Secretary by filing an application for a patent that, as a result of mining operations in compliance with the requirements of subsection (b), he has made a valid mineral discovery on such claim within the meaning of the mining laws of the United States, and if the Secretary determines that such claim contains a valid mineral discovery, the holder of such claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent only to the minerals in such claim pursuant to the mining laws of the United States. The holder of such a patent shall also be entitled to the use of so much of the surface estate of the lands comprising the claim as may be necessary for mining purposes: Provided, That all mining operations conducted upon a claim after such a valid mineral discovery has been made, shall be in accordance with such reasonable regulations as may be issued by the Secretary pursuant to the authority granted in subsection (b) of this section. (d) VALIDITY DETERMINATION.—If an application for a patent is filed by the holder of an unperfected mining claim pursuant to subsection (c) or if a contest proceeding is initiated by the United States after September 30, 1982, the validity of each claim shall be determined as of the date of the patent application or September 30, 1982, whichever is earlier. The holder of an unperfected mining claim not subject to a patent application filed prior to September 30, 1982, shall submit to the Secretary within one hundred and eighty days after such date all mineral data compiled during the contest proceeding moratorium which would support a valid mineral discovery within the meaning of the mining laws of the United States. Failure to submit such data within the one-hundred-and-eighty-day period shall preclude its consideration in a subsequent determination of the validity of each affected claim. Except as specifically provided for in this section, nothing shall alter the criteria applied under the general mining laws of the United States to adjudicate the validity of unperfected mining claims. (e) ACCESS TO CLAIMS.—Pursuant to the provisions of this section and section 1110 of this Act, reasonable access shall be granted to an unperfected mining claim for purposes of making a valid discovery of mineral until September 30, 1982. (f) PREFERENCE RIGHTS.—The holder of any unperfected mining claim which was, prior to November 16, 1978, located, recorded, and maintained in accordance with applicable Federal and State laws on lands located within the boundaries of the Steese National Conservation Area, or the White Mountains National Recreation Area established by this title, shall be entitled during a two-year period after the date that the Secretary exercises his authority under section 402 or 1312 to open an area containing such claim to mining, (1) to a preference right to rerecord his claim under applicable law and to develop such claim under section 402 or (2) to obtain a lease to remove nonleasable minerals from the claim under section 1312. TITLE V—NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM ADDITIONS TO EXISTING NATIONAL FORESTS

16 USC 539. Chugach National Forest.

SEC. 501. (a) The following units of the National Forest System are hereby expanded: (1) Chugach National Forest by the addition of four areas, Nellie Juan, College Fjord, Copper/Rude River, and Controller Bay, containing approximately one million nine hundred thousand acres of public land, as generally depicted on the map

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