30 U.S.C. § 22 — Lands open to purchase by citizens

This law opens up valuable mineral deposits on federal land to exploration and purchase, except as otherwise provided. This applies to lands belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed. The mineral deposits found in that land, and the land itself, are free and open — to occupation and purchase for the land, and to exploration and purchase for the deposits — for citizens of the United States and for people who have declared their intention to become citizens. Anyone using this right must follow regulations prescribed by law, and must also follow local customs or rules used by miners in the several mining districts, so far as those local rules are applicable and are not inconsistent with the laws of the United States.