[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC523]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 12--MULTIPLE MINERAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAME TRACTS
Sec. 523. Uranium leases
(a) Right to locate mining claims
Subject to the conditions and provisions of this chapter and to any
valid prior rights acquired under the laws of the United States, the
owner of any pending uranium lease application or of any uranium lease
shall have, for a period of one hundred and twenty days after August 13,
1954, as limited in subsection (b) of this section, the right to locate
mining claims upon the lands covered by said application or lease.
(b) Priorities and conflicting rights; termination of rights
Any rights under any such mining claim so hereafter located pursuant
to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be subject to
any rights of the owner of any mining claim which was located prior to
February 10, 1954, and which was valid on August 13, 1954 or which may
acquire validity under the provisions of this chapter. As to any lands
covered by a uranium lease and also by a pending uranium lease
application, the right of mining location under this section, as between
the owner of said lease and the owner of said application, shall be
deemed as to such conflict area to be vested in the owner of said lease.
As to any lands embraced in more than one such pending uranium lease
application, such right of mining location, as between the owners of
such conflicting applications, shall be deemed to be vested in the owner
of the prior application. Priority of such an application shall be
determined by the time of posting on a tract then available for such
leasing of a notice of lease application in accordance with paragraph
(c) of the Atomic Energy Commission's Domestic Uranium Program Circular
7 (10 C.F.R. 60.7 (c)) provided there shall have been timely compliance
with the other provisions of said paragraph (c) or, if there shall not
have been such timely compliance, then by the time of the filing of the
uranium lease application with the Atomic Energy Commission. Any rights
under any mining claim located under the provisions of this section
shall terminate at the expiration of thirty days after the filing for
record of the notice or certificate of location of such mining claim
unless, within said thirty-day period, the owner of the uranium lease
application or uranium lease upon which the location of such mining
claim was predicated shall have filed with the Atomic Energy Commission
a withdrawal of said application or a release of said lease and shall
have recorded a notice of the filing of such withdrawal or release in
the county office wherein such notice or certificate of location shall
be of record.
(c) Future claims on lands covered by application or lease
Except as otherwise provided in subsections (a) and (b) of this
section, no mining claim hereafter located shall be valid as to any
lands which at the time of such location were covered by a uranium lease
application or a uranium lease. Any tract upon which a notice of lease
application has been posted in accordance with said paragraph (c) of
said Circular 7 shall be deemed to have been included in a uranium lease
application from and after the time of the posting of such notice of
lease application: Provided, That there shall have been timely
compliance with the other provisions of said paragraph (c) or, if there
shall not have been such timely compliance, then from and after the time
of the filing of a uranium lease application with the Atomic Energy
Commission.
(Aug. 13, 1954, ch. 730, Sec. 3, 68 S