2005 Nevada Revised Statutes - Chapter 519 — Purchase, Assaying and Recovery of Ores

CHAPTER 519 - PURCHASE, ASSAYING ANDRECOVERY OF ORES

PURCHASE AND RECOVERY

NRS 519.010 Possessorsof mining claims deemed lawful owners of ores therefrom.

NRS 519.020 Purchasersin good faith deemed owners of ores.

NRS 519.030 Noticeto purchasers of their liability; institution of action to enforce title.

NRS 519.040 Liabilityof claimant for failure to institute action after service of notice.

NRS 519.050 Liabilityof purchaser after notice and institution of action.

NRS 519.060 Paymentfor ores within 30 days after delivery, sale or settlement; penalty.

NRS 519.070 Unlawfulto change value of ore, substitute ore or issue false certificate; penalty.

DUTIES AND RECORDS OF ASSAYERS AND PURCHASERS

NRS 519.080 Recordsof assayers and purchasers: Contents.

NRS 519.090 Examinationof books of assayer and purchaser upon affidavit of theft or other unlawfultaking.

NRS 519.100 Penaltyfor failing to keep books, making false entries or refusing to allowinspections.

NRS 519.110 Failure,refusal or neglect of assayer or purchaser not to operate as excuse or defense.

NRS 519.120 Assayersto identify bullion or amalgam; penalty for refusal or neglect to comply.

NRS 519.130 Statementrequired in certain documents containing results of assay; penalties;enforcement.

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PURCHASE AND RECOVERY

NRS 519.010 Possessorsof mining claims deemed lawful owners of ores therefrom. Any person, copartnership, association or corporation inthe actual and peaceable possession of any mining claim, under claim or colorof title, and engaged in the mining, shipment and treatment, or sale of orestherefrom, shall, as to all persons purchasing such ore or ores in good faithand without notice as provided in NRS519.030 of the title or claim of title or ownership of any other person,copartnership, association or corporation thereto, be deemed to be the lawfulowner or owners of such ore or ores.

[1:167:1907; RL 2487; NCL 4185]

NRS 519.020 Purchasersin good faith deemed owners of ores. Any personwho, or copartnership, association or corporation which, shall in good faithand in the usual course of business and without notice, as provided in NRS 519.030, purchase and obtain deliveryof any ore or ores from any person, copartnership, association or corporationin possession of the mines, mining claim or claims from which such ore or oresshall have been mined and extracted, shall be deemed the owner or owners ofsuch ores except as provided in NRS 519.010to 519.050, inclusive. He or they shallnot be liable to, or subject to, any action at law or in equity for the recoveryof the same or the value thereof by any person, copartnership, association orcorporation who or which may thereafter be adjudged to be the owner or ownersof such mine, mines, mining claim or claims.

[2:167:1907; RL 2488; NCL 4186]

NRS 519.030 Noticeto purchasers of their liability; institution of action to enforce title.

1. If any person, copartnership, association orcorporation shall be or shall claim to be the owner or owners, or entitled tothe possession or enjoyment, of any mine, mines, mining claim, claims orpremises, then in the possession of some other person, copartnership,association or corporation claiming to be the owner or owners or entitled tothe possession thereof, and mining, shipping and treating or selling the oretherefrom, he, they or it may, if he, they or it shall intend or desire to holdpurchasers of or those intending to purchase such ore or ores responsible forthe value thereof, serve or cause to be served upon such purchaser orpurchasers, or intending purchaser or purchasers, a notice in writing, whichshall contain:

(a) The name of the mine, mines, mining claim, claimsor premises.

(b) The name of the person, copartnership, associationor corporation claiming or asserting ownership or right to the possession orenjoyment thereof.

(c) The name or names of the person, copartnership,association or corporation in possession of and mining, shipping and sellingore therefrom.

(d) A warning to such purchaser or purchasers, orintending purchaser or purchasers, that he, they or it will be held liable andresponsible for all ore or ores by him, them or it purchased and delivered orto be purchased and delivered from such mine, mines, mining claim, claims orpremises by such person, copartnership, association or corporation, or his,their or its heirs, assigns or agents subsequent to the service of such notice.

2. Within 30 days from and after the service of suchnotice, the person, copartnership, association or corporation serving orcausing to be served the same shall:

(a) Institute an action to enforce his, their or itstitle in some court of competent jurisdiction against the person,copartnership, association or corporation in possession of and mining andshipping ore from such mine, mines, mining claim, claims or premises, and toenjoin him, them or it from the mining or shipment and sale of ores taken therefrompending such action; and

(b) At once notify such purchaser or purchasers orintending purchaser or purchasers of such ore or ores of the pendency of suchaction.

3. If the notice required by this section shall beserved after an action shall have been instituted, it shall not be necessary tocommence another under the provisions hereof.

[3:167:1907; RL 2489; NCL 4187]

NRS 519.040 Liabilityof claimant for failure to institute action after service of notice. If any person, copartnership, association or corporationclaiming title to or right of possession of such mine, mines, mining claim,claims or premises, not having before then brought action, shall serve a noticeupon any purchaser or purchasers or intending purchaser or purchasers of ore orores, as provided in NRS 519.030, andshall fail or neglect to institute an action as required in NRS 519.030, such notice shall be deemed tohave been waived, and the person or persons serving such notice shall be liableto the persons injured thereby in double damages including costs and reasonableattorney fees, and such purchaser or purchasers or intending purchaser orpurchasers shall not be bound by anything therein contained.

[4:167:1907; RL 2490; NCL 4188]

NRS 519.050 Liabilityof purchaser after notice and institution of action. Anypurchaser of ore or ores who or which shall have received the notice providedfor in NRS 519.030, and followed orpreceded by the commencement of an action as therein set forth, who shallpurchase or continue to purchase and receive ores taken from the mine, mines,mining claim, claims or premises named therein, shall be liable and responsiblefor the value thereof to the person, copartnership, association or corporationwho or which shall be ultimately adjudged or decreed to be the owner orentitled to the possession thereof.

[5:167:1907; RL 2491; NCL 4189]

NRS 519.060 Paymentfor ores within 30 days after delivery, sale or settlement; penalty.

1. Every person, firm or corporation engaged in thebusiness of purchasing, sampling, reducing or refining of ores, thepredominating value of which is in gold or silver, for others, shall makesettlement with and pay to the seller of such ores the value thereof, afterlawful deductions, within 30 days after the delivery and sampling of such ores.

2. Every person, firm or corporation engaged in thebusiness of purchasing, sampling, or in the treatment or reduction or smelting,of ores or metal, for others, shall make settlement with and pay to the sellerof such metals the value thereof, after agreed and lawful deductions, within 30days after the sale of the products of such metal by the smelter, mill,reduction works, refinery or sampler reducing or refining the same.

3. Every person, firm or corporation or lessorshipping ores, bullion or metals to any smelter, mill, sampler or reductionworks or refinery for another, shall make settlement with and pay to the personor persons entitled thereto the value of such ores, bullion or metals, within30 days after the settlement therefor shall have been made by the smelter,mill, reduction works, refinery or sampler purchasing or reducing or refiningthe same.

4. Any person violating any of the provisions of thissection commits an unlawful conversion, and is guilty of a misdemeanor.

[1:179:1925; NCL 4190] + [2:179:1925; NCL 4191] +[3:179:1925; NCL 4192] + [4:179:1925; NCL 4193](NRS A 1967, 606)

NRS 519.070 Unlawfulto change value of ore, substitute ore or issue false certificate; penalty. Any person, corporation or association, or the agent ofany person, corporation or association, engaged in the milling, smelting,sampling, concentrating, reducing, shipping or purchasing of ores in thisstate, who shall in any manner knowingly alter or change the true value of anyores delivered to him or them so as to deprive the seller of the correct valueof the same, or who shall substitute other ores for those delivered to him orthem, or who shall issue any bill of sale, or certificate of purchase, thatdoes not exactly and truthfully state the actual weight, assay value, and totalamount paid for any lot or lots of ore purchased, or who, by any secretunderstanding or agreement with another shall issue a bill of sale or certificateof purchase that does not correctly and truthfully set forth the weight, assayvalue and total amount paid for any lot or lots of ore purchased by him orthem, shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

[1911 C&P 445; RL 6710; NCL 10398](NRS A1967, 606)

DUTIES AND RECORDS OF ASSAYERS AND PURCHASERS

NRS 519.080 Recordsof assayers and purchasers: Contents. Every assayer,person, partnership, association or corporation engaged in the business, or whoor which may hereafter be engaged, directly, indirectly or occasionally in thebusiness, or who or which, being engaged in other business, shall at any timeassay, mill, sample, reduce, ship, transport, buy, purchase, trade in, barter,concentrate, smelt, refine or sell metalliferous-bearing ores, free gold, golddust, gold amalgam, gold nuggets, gold specimens, gold bullion, free silver,silver nuggets, silver bullion, lead or lead bullion, copper or copper bullion,shall keep and preserve a book of records thereof, in which shall be entered atthe times they shall occur the following entries, with the dates thereof:

1. The name of the assayer, person, persons,partnership, association or corporation on whose behalf such ore, free gold,gold dust, gold amalgam, gold nuggets, gold specimens, gold bullion, freesilver, silver nuggets, silver bullion, lead, lead bullion, copper or copperbullion is delivered, or purchased, or sampled, or transported, or sold, orreduced, or smelted, or milled, as the case may be.

2. The weight or quantity thereof, and a shortdescription of each and every lot or consignment thereof.

3. The name or names of the teamster or teamsters,packer or packers, or other person or persons actually delivering ortransferring the same, and each and every portion of the same, and the name ornames of the owner or owners of the team, pack train, railway or expresscompany, automobile or other conveyance used or employed in and for suchdelivery.

4. The name and location of the mine, mining claim,mining location, or other premises from which the same has been or purports tohave been extracted, mined or procured, and if the products or propertyconsists of concentrates, amalgam, bullion concentrates, free gold or freesilver, there shall also be recorded the name and location of the mill,concentrator, refinery or smelter which milled or purported to have milled,reduced, concentrated, smelted or refined the same, and for whom such milling,reducing, refining, concentration or smelting was done.

5. The date of the receipt thereof, and whetherreceived by purchase, barter, trade or gift, or for treatment, concentration,reduction, sampling, refining, assay, transportation, sale, exchange orotherwise.

6. Whenever the assayer, person, partnership, associationor corporation receiving any property hereinabove specifically designated shallbecome the owner thereof by purchase, barter, trade or exchange, there shallalso be recorded in the book a statement showing the amount and terms of suchpurchase, barter, trade or exchange.

7. Whenever the assayer, person, partnership,association, or corporation receiving any property herein specificallydesignated shall as agent, factor, broker or in any other capacity sell,barter, trade or exchange the same for and in behalf of the owner or reputedowner thereof, there shall also be recorded in the book the date, names of thepersons, the amount and character of the property sold or disposed of, and theamount of such transaction.

8. The interest, if any, of the delivering person,partnership, association or corporation in the property or any part thereofhereinabove specifically designated, whether as owner, lessee, pledgee,superintendent, foreman or workman in the mine, mining claim, mining location,premises, mill, concentrator, sampler, refiner or smelting works from which thesame was or purports to have been mined or treated.

[1:193:1907; RL 2483; NCL 4181]

NRS 519.090 Examinationof books of assayer and purchaser upon affidavit of theft or other unlawfultaking.

1. Whenever an affidavit shall be made by any personbefore any justice of the peace or district judge that any ore, free gold, golddust, gold amalgam, gold nuggets, gold specimens, gold bullion, free silver,silver nuggets, silver bullion, lead, lead bullion, copper or copper bullionhas been stolen or unlawfully taken from him, or from any copartnership,association or corporation in which he is interested or in which he is anofficer or agent, stating as near as may be the character, amount and valuethereof, such person by himself, or his attorneys, or both, upon presentationof such affidavit, or a copy thereof duly certified as such by the officerbefore whom the same is verified, shall have access to such book or books ofany and every assayer, person, partnership, association or corporation requiredto keep the same by the provisions of NRS519.080, and may freely and without hindrance or interference, read andexamine all entries which may have been made therein during a period of 60 daysnext preceding the date of such affidavit.

2. The examination provided for in this section may bemade by the person making such affidavit, or the partnership, association orcorporation in whose behalf the same is made, only if such person orpartnership, association or corporation shall at the time thereof have apresent ownership or interest in the assay office, mine, claim, premises, mill,smelter, concentrator, refinery or establishment from which such ores, freegold, gold dust, gold amalgam, gold specimens, gold bullion, silver, silvernuggets, silver bullion, lead, lead bullion, copper or copper bullion has beenstolen or unlawfully taken or alleged to have been stolen or unlawfully taken.

[2:193:1907; RL 2484; NCL 4182]

NRS 519.100 Penaltyfor failing to keep books, making false entries or refusing to allowinspections. Every assayer, person,copartnership, association or corporation described in NRS 519.080 who or which shall fail, refuseor neglect to keep the book or books, or to make the entries therein asrequired in NRS 519.080, or who or whichshall make or cause to be made any false or fictitious entry therein, or who orwhich shall refuse the right of inspection thereof to any person entitledthereto as provided in NRS 519.090,shall be punished by a fine of not more than $1,000.

[3:193:1907; RL 2485; NCL 4183](NRS A 1967, 606)

NRS 519.110 Failure,refusal or neglect of assayer or purchaser not to operate as excuse or defense. If any assayer, person, partnership, association orcorporation shall fail, refuse or neglect to make the inquiries or secure theinformation necessary to the making of the proper entries in the book asprovided in NRS 519.080, or shall sonegligently and imperfectly make such entry or entries that the nature,character or value of the ore or other property therein mentioned, or the assayer,partnership, person, association or corporation delivering the same or receivingthe proceeds thereof cannot be ascertained, identified or determined, or shallfail, neglect or refuse to keep such book or books, or shall willfully lose ormislay or willfully or knowingly permit to be lost or mislaid the book orbooks, so that the same cannot be produced for inspection as provided in NRS 519.090, such failure, refusal orneglect shall not excuse, protect or operate as a defense to any such assayer,partnership, association or corporation as defendant or defendants in anyaction or prosecution brought or instituted under the provisions of NRS 519.080 to 519.110, inclusive.

[4:193:1907; RL 2486; NCL 4184]

NRS 519.120 Assayersto identify bullion or amalgam; penalty for refusal or neglect to comply.

1. Every person or firm engaged in the business ofassaying within this state shall be required to place a written description,pasted on or stamped upon every bar of bullion or amalgam melted, retorted,assayed or refined by such person or firm, containing the name of the person orcompany by whom such bullion or amalgam was deposited with or sold to suchperson or firm.

2. Every person or firm engaged in the business ofassaying within this state who shall neglect or refuse to comply with theprovisions of this section shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.

[1911 C&P 498; RL 6763; NCL 10445] + [1911C&P 499; RL 6764; NCL 10446](NRS A 1967, 607)

NRS 519.130 Statementrequired in certain documents containing results of assay; penalties;enforcement.

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, everyperson or firm engaged in the business of assaying within this state shall, ineach report or other document containing the results of an assay conducted bythe person or firm which is created or produced for a commercial purpose,provide in the report or document a statement, prominently displayed and in boldtype, which reads substantially as follows:

The results of this assay were basedsolely upon the content of the sample submitted. Any decision to invest shouldbe made only after the potential investment value of the claim or deposit hasbeen determined based on the results of assays of multiple samples of geologicmaterials collected by the prospective investor or by a qualified personselected by him and based on an evaluation of all engineering data which isavailable concerning any proposed project.

2. Any person or firm who knowingly violates theprovisions of subsection 1 is:

(a) For the first violation, guilty of a misdemeanor.

(b) For a second or subsequent violation, guilty of agross misdemeanor.

3. The right to enforce the provisions of this sectionvests exclusively in the Attorney General.

4. The provisions of this section do not apply to aperson who is required to file an annual statement or list pursuant to theprovisions of NRS 362.110.

5. As used in this section, business of assayingmeans a business that determines the elemental composition of samples ofgeologic materials for a fee or other valuable consideration.

(Added to NRS by 1995, 895)