(a) Rights to deposits of minerals subject to AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.275 in or on state land that is open to claim staking may be acquired by discovery, location, and recording as prescribed in AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.275. The locator has the exclusive right of possession and extraction of the minerals subject to AS 38.05.185 - 38.05.275 lying within the boundaries of the claim.

(b) The locator may locate a claim using one of the following methods:

(1) a locator may locate a claim based on the ground location of a complete quarter section or quarter-quarter section of a township on a rectangular survey system approved by the commissioner; a claim established in this manner may be known as the meridian, township, range, section, and claim system location, or MTRSC location; a locator using the MTRSC system to locate a claim shall in good faith mark the corners of a location as closely as practical to the existing quarter section or quarter-quarter section of the rectangular survey system approved by the commissioner; the corners marked on the ground of a claim established in accordance with this paragraph and regulations of the commissioner control in the event of a conflict over boundaries for the quarter section or quarter-quarter section on the protracted or actual survey approved by the commissioner; or

(2) a locator may locate a claim based on the staking of a ground location in which the claim may not exceed 1,320 feet in its longest dimension; the boundaries of a claim based on staking and located after January 1, 1985, shall run in the four cardinal directions unless the claim is a fractional claim or the commissioner determines that staking in compliance with this paragraph is impractical because of local topography or because of the location of other claims; a claim established in this manner may be known as a non-MTRSC location.

(c) A location's corners shall be distinctly marked on the ground in the manner prescribed by the commissioner, and a notice of location shall be attached to a monument at the claim's northeast corner in the manner and containing the information required by the commissioner. Within 45 days after the date of attaching the notice of location on the monument, the locator shall record a certificate of location in the recording district where the claim is located. The certificate of location must contain the information required by the commissioner.

(d) Locations may be amended in the manner and with the effect prescribed in AS 38.05.200. Annual labor shall be performed and statements of annual labor recorded as prescribed in AS 38.05.210 - 38.05.235.