Earthquake Disrupts Mining Filings and Payments: What You Need to Know

The 2018 deadline to record affidavits of labor and pay rental on State of Alaska mining claims was disrupted by a 7.0 earthquake near Anchorage at 8:29 a.m. on Friday, November 30. As a result of the earthquake, the Department of Natural Resources’ Anchorage office and the State of Alaska Recorder’s Office closed, preventing the payment of rent and the recording of affidavits on the apparent last day to do so.

However, under existing DNR regulations, when the filing office is officially closed on the last day to make a filing or payment, the time for filing or paying is extended to the next day the office is open to the public:

		When the last day of the time for filing or payment falls on a day the designated filing office is officially closed, the time for filing is extended to the next day the office is open to the public.
		11 AAC 88.130.

State offices in Anchorage and Palmer are also closed today, December 3, 2018, and a phone call to the Juneau Recorder’s Office revealed that the servers are offline so no recording district can record documents today. This means that affidavits of labor that are recorded on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, should be considered timely. Similarly, payment of claim rentals should be considered timely if paid on Tuesday, December 4, 2018.

We are working with the Division of Mining, Land, and Water within DNR to have a formal statement issued acknowledging the effect of 11 AAC 88.130 extending the deadline for recording a 2018 affidavit of labor and paying rent.

We are aware that some claim holders submitted affidavits of labor for recording electronically and are awaiting acceptance and confirmation of those attempts to record. If you have not received confirmation from your recording district that your affidavit was accepted for recording by midday of the extended deadline, we suggest that you e-record the affidavit again.

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