§ 283. — Lands containing valuable deposits not covered by permits or leases; authority to lease; acreage; conditions; renewals; exemptions from rentals and royalties; suspension of operations.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC283]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 3A--LEASES AND PROSPECTING PERMITS
SUBCHAPTER IX--POTASH
Sec. 283. Lands containing valuable deposits not covered by
permits or leases; authority to lease; acreage; conditions;
renewals; exemptions from rentals and royalties; suspension of
operations
Lands known to contain valuable deposits enumerated in this
subchapter and not covered by permits or leases shall be held subject to
lease by the Secretary of the Interior through advertisement,
competitive bidding, or such other methods as he may by general
regulations adopt, and in such areas as he shall fix, not exceeding two
thousand five hundred and sixty acres; all leases to be conditioned upon
the payment by the lessee of such royalty as may be fixed in the lease,
not less than 2 per centum of the quantity or gross value of the output
of potassium compounds and other related products, except sodium, at the
point of shipment to market, and the payment in advance of a rental of
25 cents per acre for the first calendar year or fraction thereof; 50
cents per acre for the second, third, fourth, and fifth years,
respectively; and $1 per acre per annum thereafter during the
continuance of the lease, such rental for any year being credited
against royalties accruing for that year. Any lease issued under this
subchapter shall be for a term of twenty years and so long thereafter as
the lessee complies with the terms and conditions of the lease and upon
the further condition that at the end of each twenty-year period
succeeding the date of the lease such reasonable adjustment of the terms
and conditions thereof may be made therein as may be prescribed by the
Secretary of the Interior unless otherwise provided by law at the
expiration of such periods. Leases shall be conditioned upon a minimum
annual production or the payment of a minimum royalty in lieu thereof,
except when production is interrupted by strikes, the elements, or
casualties not attributable to the lessee. The Secretary of the Interior
may permit suspension of operations under any such leases when marketing
conditions are such that the leases cannot be operated except at a loss.
The Secretary upon application by the lessee prior to the expiration of
any existing lease in good standing shall amend such lease to provide
for the same tenure and to contain the same conditions, including
adjustment at the end of each twenty-year period succeeding the date of
said lease, as provided for in this subchapter. In the discretion of the
Secretary of the Interior the area involved in any lease resulting from
a prospecting permit may be exempt from any rental in excess of 25 cents
per acre for twenty years succeeding its issue, and the production of
potassium compounds under such a lease may be exempt from any royalty in
excess of the minimum prescribed in this subchapter for the same period.
(Feb. 7, 1927, ch. 66, Sec. 3, 44 Stat. 1057; June 3, 1948, ch. 379,
Sec. 9, 62 Stat. 292.)
Codification
Section was not enacted as part of act Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, 41
Stat. 437, known as the Mineral Leasing Act, which comprises this
chapter.
Amendments
1948--Act June 3, 1948, increased renewal term from ten to twenty
years, provided for reasonable adjustment of terms, provided minimum
conditions, and permitted suspension of operations under certain
conditions.
