The Bureau of Land Management Monday published a notice in the Federal Register increasing fees for the staking and maintenance of unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites on U.S. public lands.

The location fee will increase from $30 to $34, while the maintenance fee will increase from $125 to $140 for such unpatented claims. The adjusted fees are due on or before September 1, 2009.

Mining claimants must pay the new location fee for any mining claim or site located after the effective date of the final rule, which was Monday, June 29, 2009. Those who have already paid their maintenance fees for the 2010 year will be given "an opportunity" to pay the fee increase without penalty upon notice from the agency.

The total amount of fees collected, including the effects of the adjustment, is estimated to be $61 million annually, of which $7 million is attributable to the increases made in the new BLM rule published in the federal register.

The BLM administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral lands throughout the U.S., primarily in the West.

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