§ 82 — Notice of discovery; filing; fee; bounty to discoverer; royalty to state

§ 82. Notice of discovery; filing; fee; bounty to discoverer; royalty\nto state. 1. Any person discovering a mine or deposit of gold or silver\nin or upon private lands within this state, and any citizen of the\nUnited States discovering a mine or deposit of any mineral in or upon\nstate lands may work the same subject to the provisions of this article\nbut not until he files written notice of such discovery with the\nsecretary of state, which notice shall be indexed and registered in a\npermanent record to be kept by such secretary, describing particularly\nthe nature and situation of such mine or minerals.\n 2. Notices filed pursuant to this section shall be in such form as the\nsecretary of state shall prescribe and shall contain, among other\nthings, the following information:\n (a) The name and address of the filer.\n (b) The name of the owner of the land.\n (c) An accurate description together with a map made on tracing cloth\nwith india ink of the land against which the notice is filed, in form\nsufficient for the convenient location of the land, which land shall, so\nfar as practicable, be of equal length and width and shall comprise not\nmore than forty acres.\n (d) A statement subscribed by the filer and affirmed by him to be true\nunder the penalties of perjury that he has read or knows the provisions\nof this article and is familiar with the conditions to be by him\nperformed precedent to the acquisition, continuation and preservation of\nany rights flowing from his filing of such notice.\n 3. A fee of fifty dollars shall be paid to the secretary of state with\neach such notice.\n 4. The filer shall have the sole benefit of minerals extracted from a\nmine or deposit on state land on the payment to the state of such annual\nrental and such royalty as the commissioner shall deem reasonable and\nproper provided, however, that the minimum royalty shall not be less\nthan two per centum of the market value of all such minerals. The filer\nshall be exempted from paying a royalty to the people of the state on\nthe market value of all gold and silver extracted from a gold mine or a\nsilver mine on private lands for a term of five years under notices of\ndiscovery filed on or after April sixteen, nineteen hundred forty-five,\nto be computed from the date of filing of the notice of discovery; and\nafter the expiration of such term, the filer shall pay to the people of\nthe state a royalty of one per centum of the market value of such\nproducts.\n A statement of all minerals extracted from the premises covered by\nnotice of discovery, together with the market value thereof, shall be\nmade within six months from the time such products shall first be\nextracted, and semi-annually thereafter, under oath, to the\ncommissioner, and payments of such royalty shall be made semi-annually\nto the commissioner at the time of making of such statement of minerals\nextracted. Such payments of royalty shall thereafter be transmitted to\nthe state department of taxation and finance by the commissioner. Any\nwilful falsehood in the contents of such statement made by the filer to\nthe commissioner shall work a forfeiture to the state of the value of\nthe whole amount extracted during the period covered by such statement\nand he shall be immediately liable to the state for payment of said\namount. Upon failure to make the statement of minerals extracted, when\ndue, and the payments of royalty, when due, the commissioner may\nterminate all rights to explore and mine in the manner hereinafter\nprovided. From time to time the legislature may provide for a different\nrate of compensation to be paid to the state or for other conditions or\nstandards governing the exercise of the right to explore for or mine\nminerals on state lands or gold and silver on private lands.\n 5. The filer shall immediately notify the secretary of state of any\nchange in his address or of his interest in his rights under his notice\nof discovery, the manner in which such change of interest is effected,\nand the name and address of any successor or successors to his interest,\nin whole or in part. Such notice shall be in writing and duly sworn to.\nIn the event no such notice is received by the secretary of state, any\nnotice of default as herein provided for, mailed by the secretary of\nstate to the filer at the last known address, shall be binding upon all\nparties in interest for all purposes.\n