Section 39
SEC. 39. Lode claims, whether located by one or more persons qualified to locate mining claims under this Act shall be located in the following manner and under the following conditions: Any person so qualified desiring to locate a lode mineral claim shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, enter upon the same and locate a plat of ground, measuring not more than three hundred meters in length by three hundred meters in breadth, in as nearly as possible a rectangular form; that is to say, all angles shall be right angles, except in cases where the boundary line of a previously surveyed claim is adopted as common to both claims, but the lines need not necessarily be meridional. In defining the size of a mineral claim, it shall be measured horizontally irrespective of inequalities of the surface of the ground.