Employees stationed in Alaska are exempt from the above, _except for a mineral lease or mining claim_, and may acquire one tract of land, not exceeding five acres, for residence or recreation purposes. [43 C.F.R. 7.4 (a) (1) and (2).] Retention of an interest may be approved upon written request to the Secretary of the Interior, provided the interest was acquired prior to becoming an employee or the interest was acquired by gift, devise, bequest, or by operation of law. =3–19= The mineral surveyor may be required to file with the Bureau of Land Management a “Public Disclosure Statement of Known Financial Interests” under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. =3–20= It should be clear why the foregoing restrictions are placed on mineral surveyors. They remove any possible conflict of interest and the claimant may deal freely with the mineral surveyor knowing that he cannot benefit from any information or knowledge gained during the course of the survey. CHAPTER IV Application and Order for Survey =4–1= Purpose: Except in special instances, such as lands selected by the Native Corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, a mining claim may be held indefinitely as a location by performing the annual assessment work and making the necessary affidavits and recordings. However, once a valuable mineral deposit has been proven to exist, it may be desirable to obtain absolute fee title (patent) to the claim which, except in special cases, includes not only the mineral estate, but the surface as well. Patent not only assures possession of the property, but will facilitate financing as well. Unless the claim is described by legal subdivisions as in the case of placers and mill sites, an official survey by a United States Mineral Surveyor under the direction and with the approval of the Bureau of Land Management is the first step in obtaining a patent. Almost universally, the location survey has not been made with sufficient accuracy or detail to provide the necessary description for patent. The patent survey will, in addition to permanently monumenting and witnessing the location on the ground, show all conflicts with prior mineral surveys, fee lands with mineral rights, and prior locations that the claimant wishes to exclude. It will also show all the workings on the claims, both by the claimant and by others, if any. The survey itself confers no rights; patent must follow. =4–2= Selecting a Mineral Surveyor: A list of approved and active mineral surveyors may be obtained from any State Office, or from the Director, Bureau of Land Management, at Washington, D.C. Mineral surveyors’ appointments cover all states where the mining laws are applicable.