Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 82. MINERALS, OIL, AND GAS

CHAPTER 2. MINING GENERALLY

Part 1. Location and Record of Claims

Record Of Certificate Of Location

82-2-102. Record of certificate of location. (1) Within 60 days after posting the notice of location, the locator shall record the location in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the mining claim is situated. The record must consist of a certificate of location for each claim containing:

(a) the name of the lode or claim and whether located as a lode or placer claim;

(b) the name of the locator or locators, if there is more than one, together with the post-office address of the locator or locators;

(c) the date of location and the description of the claim, with reference to some natural object or permanent monument, that will identify the claim and the section, township, and range in which the claim is situated by projected survey lines if located in unsurveyed country; and

(d) the directions and distances from the discovery point that describe the claim.

(2) The certificate of location must be verified before an officer authorized to administer oaths by the locator or one of the locators, if there is more than one, or by an authorized agent. In the case of a corporation, the verification may be made by an officer of the corporation or by an authorized agent. When the verification is made by an agent, the fact of the agency must be stated in the affidavit. A verified certificate of location or a certified copy of the certificate is prima facie evidence of all facts properly recited in the certificate. Failure of the locator or locators to record a certificate of location as required in this section creates a prima facie presumption of intent to abandon. However, recordation after the 60-day period but before the ground is located by another renews the location and saves the rights of the original locator. Nothing contained in 82-2-112 affects the prima facie presumption created by this section.

History: En. Sec. 3612, Pol. C. 1895; amd. Sec. 2, p. 141, L. 1901; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 16, L. 1907; Sec. 2284, Rev. C. 1907; re-en. Sec. 7366, R.C.M. 1921; re-en. Sec. 7366, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 4, Ex. L. 1971; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 428, L. 1973; R.C.M. 1947, 50-702; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 137, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2716, Ch. 56, L. 2009.