U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Solid Minerals Reclamation Handbook BLM Manual Handbook H-3042-1

Cover of the "Solid Minerals Reclamation Handbook" from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. A black-and-white line illustration shows a bulldozer working on reclaimed land in a hilly, forested landscape with scattered trees, boulders, and a stream. A wooden sign in the foreground reads "RECLAIMED AREA." Text at the bottom reads "noncoal leasable minerals, locatable minerals, salable minerals" and "BLM Manual Handbook H-3042-1."

Released Feb. 7, 1992 (Release 3-275) by the U.S. Department of the Interior, this handbook provides nationwide guidance for reclamation of solid mineral operations on federal and Indian lands, covering noncoal leasable, locatable, and salable minerals (surface coal mining is excluded). 

It establishes consistent reclamation standards and addresses the full lifecycle of an operation — reclamation plan review, inspection and enforcement, bonding, and closure — with technical chapters on site access, drilling operations, drainage and hydrology, mine waste and pollution control (including acid mine drainage and cyanide leach systems), underground mine closure, landform reclamation, revegetation, and post-mining land uses such as wildlife, range, recreation, and visual resource management.

Drawing on authorities including the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 and the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970, its goal is to return disturbed areas to a self-sustaining, safe, and stable condition consistent with approved land-use plans. The document also includes technical figures, a glossary, and an extensive bibliography.

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Publication Date

Region

National Office
Arizona

Organization

Collection: Public Room
Category: Handbook

Keywords

Minerals