30 U.S.C. § 262 — Leases to permittees; survey of lands; royalties and annual rentals

submitted 106 years ago by ch. 85 to r/title-30-MINERAL-LANDS-AND-MINING · 478 words · no verdicts yet

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This law lets a permit holder who finds valuable sodium minerals get a lease on that land. It sets minimum royalties and yearly rent for these leases. Leases last 20 years, with a right to renew for 10-year periods.

This section is one undivided provision, made up of several connected rules and provisos. If someone holding a prospecting permit shows the Secretary of the Interior that they've found valuable deposits of the substances listed in section 261 (sodium compounds), and that the land is mainly valuable for that reason, they get the right to lease that land — or any part of it covered by their permit. The royalty is at least 2% of the amount or value of the sodium compounds and related products produced, measured at the point they're shipped to market. The leased land must be laid out in a compact shape, following the public land survey system, or, if the land hasn't been surveyed yet, the permittee must pay for a survey done under the Secretary's rules. Land known to have these valuable sodium deposits, but not already covered by a permit or lease, can be leased by the Secretary through public advertising, competitive bidding, or other methods the Secretary sets by regulation, in areas the Secretary chooses that are no larger than 2,560 acres. Every lease under this section must require the lessee to pay whatever royalty the lease sets, but never less than 2% of the amount or value of the sodium output, measured at the shipping point. The lessee must also pay rent in advance: 25 cents per acre for the first year (or part of a year), 50 cents per acre for each of the second through fifth years, and $1 per acre every year after that. Whatever rent is paid in a year gets credited against that year's royalties. Leases last 20 years, and the lessee has first right to renew for additional 10-year periods, on reasonable terms the Secretary sets, unless some other law says otherwise by the time the lease ends. Two things are made clear: this section doesn't stop someone from mining and selling sodium compounds under a separate potassium lease, or from mining and selling potassium compounds found as a byproduct of a sodium lease taken under this section. Also, if a lessee asks, the Secretary can update the rental and royalty terms of an existing sodium lease to match the current rules in this section.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

Upon showing to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that valuable deposits of one of the substances enumerated in section 261 of this title have been discovered by the permittee within the area covered by his permit and that such land is chiefly valuable therefor, the permittee shall be entitled to a lease for any or all of the land embraced in the prospecting permit at a royalty of not less than 2 per centum of the quantity or gross value of the output of sodium compounds and other related products at the point of shipment to market; the lands in such lease to be taken in compact form by legal subdivisions of the public land surveys or, if the land be not surveyed, by survey executed at the cost of the permittee in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. Lands known to contain valuable deposits of one of the substances enumerated in section 261 of this title and not covered by permits or leases shall be subject to lease by the Secretary of the Interior through advertisement, competitive bidding, or such other methods as he may by general regulations adopt and in such areas as he shall fix, not exceeding two thousand five hundred and sixty acres. All leases under this section shall be conditioned upon the payment by the lessee of such royalty as may be fixed in the lease, not less than 2 per centum of the quantity or gross value of the output of sodium compounds and other related products at the point of shipment to market, and the payment in advance of a rental of 25 cents per acre for the first calendar year or fraction thereof, 50 cents per acre for the second, third, fourth, and fifth calendar years respectively; and $1 per acre per annum thereafter during the continuance of the lease, such rental for any one year to be credited against royalties accruing for that year. Leases under this section shall be for a period of twenty years, with preferential right in the lessee to renew for successive periods of ten years upon such reasonable terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior unless otherwise provided by law at the expiration of such period: Provided, That nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the mining and sale of sodium compounds under potassium leases issued pursuant to subchapter VII [§ 141 et seq.] of chapter 3 of this title and subchapter IX of this chapter, nor the mining and sale of potassium compounds as a byproduct from sodium leases taken under this section: Provided further, That on application by any lessee the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to modify the rental and royalty provisions stipulated in any existing sodium lease to conform to the provisions of this section.

Source credit: (Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 24, 41 Stat. 447; Dec. 11, 1928, ch. 19, 45 Stat. 1019.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1920Enacted · Act of Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85 · 41 Stat. 447
1928Amended · Act of Dec. 11, 1928, ch. 19 · 45 Stat. 1019

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 85 on 1920-02-25.

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