Federal and Utah law: no lode claim may be located until a vein or lode is discovered within it

Federal mining law, 30 U.S.C. 23, limits a lode claim to 1,500 feet along the vein and 300 feet each side of it, and says no claim may be located 'until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located'. Utah Code 40-1-1 says the same for Utah. 40-1-2 requires a monument at the place of discovery with the notice on it (claim name, locators, date, feet claimed along the vein each way, width, the general course of the vein, and a tie to a natural object or permanent monument). 40-1-3 requires the boundaries to be distinctly marked on the ground. 40-1-4 requires a substantial copy of the notice to be recorded with the county recorder within 30 days after posting: for RW 453, located September 12, 2026, by about October 12, 2026 (mine-453). 40-1-11 makes it a class B misdemeanor to tear down or deface a posted notice or remove a claim's stakes or monuments. The RW 453 notice therefore amounts to a claim that a vein or lode was discovered in Section 28; no record read says what mineral.

• 30 U.S.C. 23, Length of claims on veins or lodes (Legal Information Institute (Cornell)) primary government “until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located”
• Utah Code Title 40, Chapter 1, Mining Claims (40-1-1 to 40-1-12) (Utah State Legislature, 2025-05-07) primary government “until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limits of the claim located”