Enrolled HB 344: Relating to annual rental fees, statements of annual labor, and production royalty for mining claims; and providing a cure for abandonment.
00Enrolled HB 344 01 Relating to annual rental fees, statements of annual labor, and production royalty for mining 02 claims; and providing a cure for abandonment. 03 _______________ 04 * Section 1. AS 38.05.265 is amended to read: 05 Sec. 38.05.265. Abandonment. Failure to properly record a certificate of 06 location or a statement of annual labor, pay any required annual rental, or pay any 07 required production royalty as required by AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.200, 38.05.210 - 08 38.05.245, 38.05.252 - 38.05.275, and by regulations adopted under these sections 09 constitutes abandonment of all rights acquired under the mining claim, leasehold 10 location, or prospecting site involved, and the claim, leasehold location, or prospecting 11 site is subject to relocation by others, unless the failure constituting the 12 abandonment is cured under (b) of this section. A locator or claimant of an 13 abandoned location or a successor in interest may not relocate the claim, leasehold 14 location, or prospecting site until one year after abandonment. The locator of an
01 abandoned prospecting site may locate a claim or leasehold location on that site at any 02 time. A statement of annual labor that does not accurately set out the essential facts is 03 void and of no effect. If an annual rental or a royalty payment is deficient but is 04 otherwise timely paid, abandonment does not result if full payment is made within 05 (1) the period prescribed by a deficiency notice from the 06 commissioner; or 07 (2) 30 days after a final judgment establishing the amount due if the 08 deficiency amount due was contested. 09 * Sec. 2. AS 38.05.265 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 10 (b) Unless another person has located a mining claim or leasehold location 11 that includes all or part of the mining claim or leasehold location abandoned under (a) 12 of this section or the area is closed to mineral location under AS 38.05.185 - 13 38.05.275, a person may cure the failure to record or pay that constituted the 14 abandonment and cure the abandonment by 15 (1) properly recording a certificate of location or a statement of annual 16 labor, paying any required annual rental, and paying any required production royalty; 17 and 18 (2) paying a penalty equal to the annual rent for the mining claim or 19 leasehold location that was abandoned under (a) of this section.