(a) Locating a mining claim or site means:

(1) Establishing the exterior lines of a mining claim or site on lands open to mineral entry to identify the exact land claimed; and

(2) Recording a notice or certificate of location as required by state and Federal law and by this part.

(b) You will find—

(1) Location requirements in this part;

(2) Recording requirements in part 3833 of this chapter;

(3) Requirements for transferring an interest in a mining claim or site in § 3833.30 of this chapter; and

(4) Annual fee requirements for mining claims and sites in parts 3834, 3835, and 3836 of this chapter.

(a) You must follow both state and Federal law.

(b) Your lode or placer claim is not valid until you make a discovery within the boundaries of the claim.

(c) To locate a claim or site, you must—

(1) Make certain that the land on which you are locating the claim or site is Federal land that is open to mineral entry

(2) Stake and monument the corners of a mining claim or site which meets applicable state monumenting requirements and the size limitations described in § 3832.22 for lode and placer claims, § 3832.32 for mill sites, and § 3832.42 for tunnel sites;

(3) Post the notice of location in a conspicuous place on the claim or site. The notice must include:

(i) The name or names of the locators;

(ii) The date of the location; and

(iii) A description of the claim or site;

(iv) The name or number of the claim or site, or both, if the claim or site has both;

(4) Record the notice or certificate of location in the local recording office and the BLM State Office with jurisdiction according to the procedures in part 3833;

(5) Follow all other relevant state law requirements; and

(6) Comply with the specific requirements for lode claims, placer claims, mill sites, or tunnel sites in this part.

(a) General requirements. (1) All claims and sites. You must describe the land by state, meridian, township, range, section and by aliquot part to the quarter section. To obtain the land description, you must use an official survey plat or other U.S. Government map that is based on the surveyed or protracted U.S. Public Land Survey System. If you cannot describe the land by aliquot part (e.g., the land is unsurveyed), you must provide a metes and bounds description that fixes the position of the claim corners with respect to a specified claim corner, discovery monument, or official survey monument. In all cases, your description of the land must be as compact and regular in form as reasonably possible and should conform to the U.S. Public Land Survey System and its rectangular subdivisions as much as possible; and

(2)(i) You must file either—

(A) A topographical map published by the U.S. Geological Survey with a depiction of the claim or site; or

(B) A narrative or sketch describing the claim or site and tying the description to a natural object, permanent monument or topographic, hydrographic, or man-made feature.

(ii) You must show on a map or sketch the boundaries and position of the individual claim or site by aliquot part within the quarter section accurately enough for BLM to identify the mining claims or sites on the ground.

(iii) You may show more than one claim or site on a single map or describe more than one claim or site in a single sketch—

(A) If they are located in the same general area; and

(B) If the individual mining claims or sites are clearly identified.

(iv) You are not required to employ a professional surveyor or engineer to establish the location's position on the ground.

(b) Lode claims. You must describe lode claims by metes and bounds beginning at the discovery point on the claim and include a tie to natural objects or permanent monuments including:

(1) Township and section survey monuments;

(2) Official U.S. mineral survey monuments;

(3) Monuments of the National Geodetic Reference System;

(4) The confluence of streams or point of intersection of well-known gulches, ravines, or roads, prominent buttes, and hills; or

(5) Adjoining claims or sites.

(c) Placer claims. (1) You must describe placer claims by aliquot part and complete lots using the U.S. Public Land Survey System and its rectangular subdivisions except when placer claims are—

(i) On unsurveyed Federal lands;

(ii) Gulch or bench placer claims; or

(iii) Bounded by other mining claims or nonmineral lands.

(2) For placer mining claims that are on unsurveyed Federal lands or are gulch or bench placer claims:

(i) You must describe the lands by protracted survey if the BLM has a protracted survey of record; or

(ii) You may describe the lands by metes and bounds, if a protracted survey is not available or if the land is not amenable to protraction.

(3) If you are describing an association placer claim by metes and bounds, you must meet the following requirements, according to the number of persons in your association, as described in Snow Flake Fraction Placer, 37 Pub. Lands Dec. 250 (1908), in order to keep your claim in compact form and not split Federal lands into narrow, long or irregular shapes:

(i) A location by 1 or 2 persons must fit within the exterior boundaries of a square 40-acre parcel;

(ii) A location by 3 or 4 persons must fit within the exterior boundaries of 2 square 40-acre contiguous parcels;

(iii) A location by 5 or 6 persons must fit within the exterior boundaries of 3 square contiguous 40-acre parcels; and

(iv) A location by 7 or 8 persons must fit within the exterior boundaries of 4 square contiguous 40-acre parcels.