the claim for at least once a week for ninety days, and if at the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writing or by publication, such delinquent should fail or refuse to contribute his proportion of the expenditure required by this section, his interest in the claim shall become the property of his co-owners who have made the required expenditures. In 'advertising out' a co-owner, the demand can only be made for the co-owner's share of the work at the rate of $100 per claim. If more than $100 per claim was spent, the co-owner's refusal to contribute on a basis of more than $100 cannot be used, under the Statute, to work a forfeiture of his rights in the claim. It appears that if a certain co-owner or co-owners have the work performed, any forfeited ownerships will inure to them solely, instead of being also apportioned among the other co-owners who may subsequently offer to pay their share toward the forfeited portions. If the demand is made by personal notice in writing, the delinquent has ninety days within which to respond and pay his portion. If the demand is made by publication for ninety days in the newspaper published nearest the claim, as should always be done if the delinquent cannot be readily found or reached, the delinquent has ninety days from expiration of period of publication within which to respond. FORFEITURE NOTICE To Wm. Barnwell: You are hereby notified that I have expended $100 in If, within ninety days from the personal notice, or The notice of forfeiture should be recorded together with the proof of service and non-payment-the affidavit of the co-owner making the expenditure to the effect that the notice of forfeiture was personally served and that payment was not made within the statutory time. If the notice of forfeiture has been given by publication, then instead of proof of service and non-payment, the affidavit of the publisher stating that the notice was published as required by law-the proof of publication-and the affidavit of non-payment made by the co-owner, should be filed. CHAPTER XII Millsite Location R. S., 2337: Where non-mineral land, not contiguous to the vein or lode, is used or occupied by the proprietor of such vein or lode for mining or milling purposes, such non-adjacent surface ground may be embraced and included in an application for a patent for such vein or lode, and the same may be patented therewith, subject to the same preliminary requirements as to survey and notice as are applicable to veins or lodes; but no location hereafter made of such non-adjacent land, shall exceed five acres, and payment for the same must be made at the same rate as fixed by this chapter for the superficies of the lode. The owner of a quartz mill or reduction works, not owning a mine in connection therewith, may also receive a patent for his millsite, as provided in this section. The above section provides for two kinds of millsites-millsites as appendages to mining claims for their better development and working, which may be used for any purpose incidental to the mining and reduction of ores, and millsites for mills and reduction works independent of mining claims, which must be used for sites for reducing ores. The land must be non-mineral. Following the rule of the Land Department that the land should be put to its most useful purpose, this means that the land must be more valuable for the millsite purposes to which it has been put than for its mineral. As the value of an undeveloped mining claim is highly speculative, to say the least, it would be best, should the land contain mineral-bearing formations and a mineral discovery can be made where it is essentially mineral in character-to locate it as a lode claim, even should the claim be wanted for millsite purposes and meet the test mentioned before. The Statute undoubtedly contemplates, and the Land Department must be considered as preferring, that ground which may be deemed worthy of prospecting, shall be located, held, and patented under the lode or placer laws, and only ground which may not be deemed worthy of prospecting, that seems almost without question to have no possible mineral value, should be located under the millsite law, especially the first class of millsites. It appears that a millsite location, valid by reason of being made in good faith on ground having a nonmineral character-not known to be valuable for mineral at time location was made and perfectedcannot be cancelled or impaired by a subsequent discovery of mineral in nominal quantity, and by the placing of a conflicting lode or placer location, though it is not fully settled that a valuable mineral deposit discovered after millsite location cannot be located as lode or placer by others. After patent there can be no question but that all mineral which may be found belongs to the patentee. To defeat a millsite location, it would be necessary to show that the ground was known mineral land at time location was made and perfected; it might even be necessary to show that it was valuable mineral land. A millsite location cannot be defeated by a subsequent agricultural entry, nor can a millsite location defeat a prior and existing agricultural entry. The Statute says that a millsite shall not be adjacent to the vein or lode. The Land Department has interpreted this as being an attempt to prevent the obtaining of further mineral ground under an improper location or entry, and has ruled that a millsite may be in contact with the side line of a claim if it is clearly not an appropriation of more mineral ground, that is, the millsite must be strictly non-mineral. A further application of this principle would allow locating and patenting millsites in contact with the end lines, where it can be conclusively shown that the millsite is non-mineral and that its entry should be allowed. Since the Statute is silent regarding the method of locating millsites, it is customary to follow very much the same methods as in making a lode location. Millsites should be square or rectangular with a post at each corner. A single millsite cannot exceed five acres in area. Five acres equals a tract 466.7 ft. square, or 217,800 sq. ft. A location notice should be placed upon the ground and also recorded. Millsites are usually named after the claim or group to which they are appended. When a claim or group including a millsite, is surveyed for patent, the same survey number is used for both, but the number on the lode locations is followed by A, as '4785 A', while the same number used on the millsite is followed by B, as '4785 B'. Letters are also used in patent surveys in some surveyor-general offices when lodes and placers are included in the same application. Millsites may be located at the time of location of their lode claim or claims, or at any time thereafter, even after patent. A single mining claim is entitled to a millsite location. A group of mining claims, according to the rulings of the Land Department, is entitled to as many millsite locations as it actually and reasonably needs, and no more. Consequently not more than one millsite location should be made in connection with a group of lode claims, unless the locator is able to show in subsequent entry for patent or adverse suits, that all of such claims are necessary. No discovery work, annual labor, or patent work is required upon millsites. The possessory right to those of the first class is dependent upon the possessory right to the lode locations to which they are appended. If the required work is not performed upon the lode locations and they thereby become forfeitable, the millsite is also forfeitable. But while no development work or annual labor is required upon millsite locations of the first class, some use for mining or reduction purposes is requisite to their possession until patented. Such use may be the erection of a mill or other reduction works; the storing of ore; the pumping of water; the erection and use of a living cabin, a bunk-house, or shops; the dumping of water or banking of tailings or waste. Uses foreign to those incidental to mining or ore-reduction will not suffice. Under some conditions storage of water may be counted, but not under others. Millsites cannot be located for the timber upon them only, for uses disconnected entirely from the lode claim, to be turned over to another party, or to secure water-rights that are properly obtained under the laws of waterappropriation and protected by Sections 2339 and 2340 of the Revised Statutes, as wells, springs, dams, or reservoirs. |