Mining liens: definitions.

The California Constitution provides that mechanics, persons furnishing materials, artisans, and laborers of every class have a lien upon the property upon which they have bestowed labor or furnished material for the value of the labor done and material furnished. The California Constitution also requires the Legislature to provide, by law, for the speedy and efficient enforcement of those liens. Existing statutory law governs works of improvement, including mining liens. These provisions govern the conditions required to enforce a lien and for a mining lien to be deemed valid, and, as of July 1, 2012, define the term "mine" to mean a mining claim or real property worked on as a mine. This bill would define "mine" for the purposes of enforcing mining liens to include, but not be limited to, any quarry or pit, from which rock, gravel, sand, or any other mineral-containing property is extracted by any mining, or surface mining, operation. The bill would declare that it is the intent of the Legislature in enacting the bill to supersede the holding of the Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeals in Sukut Const., Inc. v. Rimrock CA LLC (2011) 199 Cal.App.4th 817. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.