BLM Alaska Minerals Program
The BLM Alaska minerals program has responsibilities and adjudicative duties associated with federal mining claims, mineral surveys and patents, validation of title evidence, review of mineral validity reports, service of federal minerals contest actions, guidance for surface use management and use and occupancy under the mining laws; processing mineral lease applications, mineral materials, solid minerals prospecting permits, bonding documentation, and oil and gas reinstatement actions; coordinating oil and gas lease sales; and preparation and service of decisions, notices and other legal documents.
Mining Claim Information:
- Claim Adjudication
- Locatable Minerals
- Locatable Minerals "Discovery" of a Valuable Mineral Deposit
- Mining Claim Fee Requirements
- Mining Claim- Maintenance Fee Waiver Form
- Mining operations, Financial Guarantees, (bonding) under 43 CFR 3809
- Mining Claim Terms and Definitions
- Mining on Public Lands in Alaska
- Mineral Patents
- BLM Fact Sheet - Maintenance and Location Fee Requirements
- Occupancy Regulations
- Reclamation
- Mining Claim Brochure
- NEW!! -
Placer Mining on BLM Managed Lands and
Using the State of Alaska’s Annual Placer Mining Application (APMA)
Overview
Most placer miners in Alaska choose to use the State of Alaska’s Annual Placer Mining Application (APMA)to apply for permits. Through an agreement with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR), the BLM also allows federal claim operators to use the APMA to apply for approval on BLM managed lands. Although the APMA is not a BLM form, a properly completed APMA will contain much of the basic information that is required by the BLM to process your federal application. The completed APMA is also automatically distributed to other state/federal permitting agencies that have jurisdiction over your proposed activity.
A financial guarantee of reclamation is required for most federal mining claim activities, and must be in effect prior to beginning any work on your federal claim. The BLM has a number of options available for you to provide assurance that mining disturbance will be reclaimed at the end of your activity. These include a surety from a bond company, a certificate of deposit, or a cash bond, among others. The BLM may also allow federal operators to use the State-wide Bond Pool, managed by ADNR, to provide a reclamation bond in Alaska. ADNR uses your APMA as the application for entry into the bond pool.
BLM’s Supplemental Guidance to the APMA
Often, your completed APMA will not provide all of the information required by federal regulations. If this is the case, the BLM will not be able to fully evaluate your proposal, resulting in delays in processing while you provide the necessary information. To help you meet federal requirements, BLM has developed supplemental guidance that enables you to address those specific components often missing from APMA applications. Using the provided supplements will ensure that the description of your proposed operation is complete and thereby minimize delays in the processing of your application.
Before submitting your APMA for operations on BLM managed lands, read the Instructional Supplement to the APMA using the link provided below. This instructional guidance will help you to define the level of your federal activity – either as Casual Use, Notice of Intent, or Plan of Operation levels, and identify which regulations and specific APMA Supplements may then apply to your proposal.
The Supplements are also available from your local field office. Return to the main BLM - Alaska webpage and click on the Alaska map for help in determining your local Field Office.
Using the APMA & State-wide Bond Pool within the BLM Approval Process
LINKS
BLM Supplemental Guidance to the Placer Mining Application (APMA)
BLM Instructional Supplement to the APMA
Supplement A - Performance Standards Checklist
Supplement B – Water Management Plan
Supplement C – Placer Reclamation Plan
Supplement D – Seasonal or Temporary Closure Plan
BLM Regulations
Title 43 CFR - Subpart 3715 - Regulations for Use and Occupancy Under the Mining Laws
Title 43 CFR – Subpart 3809 – Regulations for Surface management of Mining Claims under the General Mining Laws
Title 40 CFR – Subpart 109 – Regulations for Oil Removal Contingency Plans
Reclamation Bonding and Reclamation Cost Estimates (RCEs)
To download – BLM Reclamation Cost Estimation Review Guidelines
To download - BLM Nevada's Mining Reclamation Bonding Guidelines
Minerals Data
Mining Claim Information System - State and Federal Mining Claims Interactive Map
Minerals Material Sales
Mineral Assessment Program Overview- includes links to BLM and BUreau of Mines Mineral Reports
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