MINING CLAIMS ON LANDS CONVEYED TO ALASKA REGIONAL CORPORATIONS.

SEC. 102. MINING CLAIMS ON LANDS CONVEYED TO ALASKA REGIONAL CORPORATIONS. Section 22(c) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1621(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(3) This section shall apply to lands conveyed by interim conveyance or patent to a regional corporation pursuant to this Act which are made subject to a mining claim or claims located under the general mining laws, including lands conveyed prior to enactment of this paragraph. Effective upon the date of enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Land Management and in a manner 109 STAT. 354 consistent with section 14(g), shall transfer to the regional corporation administration of all mining claims determined to be entirely within lands conveyed to that corporation. Any person holding such mining claim or claims shall meet such requirements of the general mining laws and section 314 of the Federal Land Management and Policy Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744), except that any filings that would have been made with the Bureau of Land Management if the lands were within Federal ownership shall be timely made with the appropriate regional corporation. The validity of any such mining claim or claims may be contested by the regional corporation, in place of the United States. All contest proceedings and appeals by the mining claimants of adverse decisions made by the regional corporation shall be brought in Federal District Court for the District of Alaska. Neither the United States nor any Federal agency or official shall be named or joined as a party in such proceedings or appeals. All revenues from such mining claims received after passage of this paragraph shall be remitted to the regional corporation subject to distribution pursuant to section 7(i) of this Act, except that in the event that the mining claim or claims are not totally within the lands conveyed to the regional corporation, the regional corporation shall be entitled only to that proportion of revenues, other than administrative fees, reasonably allocated to the portion of the mining claim so conveyed.”.