NATIONAL FOREST ORDERS. 



NATIONAL FOREST ORDER 33. 



(Supersedes Forest Reserve Order No. 7.) 



APRIL 13, 1907. 

 Examination of Mining Claims. 



To Forest Officers in Charge: 



When it becomes necessary under the special instructions on page 21 of The 

 Use Book to make a special examination and report upon a mineral land claim 

 within a National Forest, the forest officer should observe the following pro- 

 visions : 



If active mining operations are being conducted on the claim and ore is 

 being marketed and the general outlook indicates a bona fide mine, a close 

 examination for mineral values or indications will not be necessary. The forest 

 officer should, in such cases, report the facts generally after going through the 

 mine. 



Where the validity of the discovery is doubtful, a more careful examination 

 should be made. It should be remembered that it is not necessary that the 

 claim should be a paying mine. If valuable mineral has been found and the 

 nature of its occurrence would justify exploitation or working of the ground for 

 mineral, the discovery would be a legal and valid one. 



To determine whether or not such a discovery has been made the forest 

 officer should proceed as follows : 



(a) In case of lode claims: 



1. He should examine the dimensions of the outcropping of the vein or lode 

 on the ground and note the general character of the rock in which the deposit 

 is contained. 



2. He should search for discovery shafts, pits, or tunnels which the owner 

 has made in an effort to find or disclose the vein and ore. He should make 

 notes of the appearance and extent of the vein or ore exposed in the excava- 

 tions, and should particularly note whether there is a distinct deposit of 

 valuable ore or minerals, or whether, for example, there is merely some mineral 

 like iron pyrites distributed in slight amount throughout the rock of the claim. 



3. He should measure the width of the vein or filling between the rock walls 

 or the thickness of the mineralized zone of rock exposed in the excavations, 

 and should observe the dip that is, the angle of inclination downward from 

 the horizontal of the vein or mineralized rock, as well as the strike or course 



of the vein, noting the latter as N., NW., etc. 



4. He should take a sample of each important grade of ore found in the ex- 

 cavation or in any vein on the claim and observe the proportion of each kind 

 of ore. He should then select a sample consisting of a number of pieces which, 

 in his opinion, represents the average value of the vein or mineralized rock, 



(51) 



