Small miner waiver....

        It’s that time of year again.  If you have 10 claims or less, you qualify for the Bureau of Land Management Maintenance Fee Waiver Certification Form 3830-2, more commonly called the small miner’s waiver.

         Previous years we have received a mailing that provided at least a draft of this form, but no mailing this year (cost cutting?).  The form, however, is online at the Montana-Dakota BLM site.  We just printed it from there.

         First and foremost… if you qualify for this form it must be postmarked by Aug. 31 or it is invalid.  That will mean sacrificing your claim.  It does not have to be notarized or filed at the county.

         So let’s get to work on this form.  Otherwise, you need to budget $140 for every 20-acre parcel you have claimed!

1.     This small miner waiver is filed for the assessment year beginning Sept. 1, 2012 and ending on Sept. 1, 2013.

2.     The undersigned and all related parties owned 10 or fewer mining claims, mill, or tunnel sites located and maintained on federal lands in the United States of America on Sept. 1, 2012.

3-6 are information items.

7.     The mining claims, mill or tunnel sites for which this waiver from payment of the maintenance fee is requested, are: (Here you fill in claim or site name and BLM serial number [MMC]).

          This form then needs to be signed by all claim owners (extra room on back).  Make a copy for your records and mail the original to BLM for filing by Aug. 31.  No filing fee is needed.

          If you run off the form, instructions are on page 2.

          Additional note:  If you have located a claim prevous to Aug. 31, 2012, you must either include the new claim(s) on your small miner's waiver or pay the $140 maintenance fee.  We got caught on this once and ended up forking out an additional $140 to keep the claim.  I cannot say this with authority, but we believe you do not have to have a MMC to do this, but write pending MMC on the form.

          If you are having trouble finding or printing the form, drop me an email at hillshistory1876@gmail.com and I will email you the form to print.