<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?><InstanceReport xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><Version>2.4.0.8</Version><ReportLongName>0008 - Disclosure - 3. Mining Properties and Interests</ReportLongName><DisplayLabelColumn>true</DisplayLabelColumn><ShowElementNames>false</ShowElementNames><RoundingOption /><HasEmbeddedReports>false</HasEmbeddedReports><Columns><Column FlagID="0"><Id>1</Id><IsAbstractGroupTitle>false</IsAbstractGroupTitle><LabelSeparator>

</LabelSeparator><CurrencyCode /><FootnoteIndexer /><hasSegments>false</hasSegments><hasScenarios>false</hasScenarios><MCU><KeyName /><CurrencySymbol /><contextRef><ContextID>From2012-06-01to2013-05-31</ContextID><EntitySchema>http://www.sec.gov/CIK</EntitySchema><EntityValue>0000201779</EntityValue><PeriodDisplayName /><PeriodType>duration</PeriodType><PeriodStartDate>2012-06-01T00:00:00</PeriodStartDate><PeriodEndDate>2013-05-31T00:00:00</PeriodEndDate><Segments /><Scenarios /></contextRef><UPS /><CurrencyCode /><OriginalCurrencyCode /></MCU><CurrencySymbol /><Labels><Label Key="CalendarSupplement" Id="0" Label="12 Months Ended" /><Label Key="Calendar" Id="1" Label="May 31, 2013" /></Labels></Column></Columns><Rows><Row FlagID="0"><Id>1</Id><IsAbstractGroupTitle>true</IsAbstractGroupTitle><LabelSeparator>

</LabelSeparator><Level>1</Level><ElementName>us-gaap_ExtractiveIndustriesAbstract</ElementName><ElementPrefix>us-gaap_</ElementPrefix><IsBaseElement>true</IsBaseElement><BalanceType>na</BalanceType><PeriodType>duration</PeriodType><IsReportTitle>false</IsReportTitle><IsSegmentTitle>false</IsSegmentTitle><IsCalendarTitle>false</IsCalendarTitle><IsEquityPrevioslyReportedAsRow>false</IsEquityPrevioslyReportedAsRow><IsEquityAdjustmentRow>false</IsEquityAdjustmentRow><IsBeginningBalance>false</IsBeginningBalance><IsEndingBalance>false</IsEndingBalance><IsReverseSign>false</IsReverseSign><FootnoteIndexer /><Cells><Cell FlagID="0" ContextID="" UnitID=""><Id>1</Id><IsNumeric>false</IsNumeric><IsRatio>false</IsRatio><DisplayZeroAsNone>false</DisplayZeroAsNone><NumericAmount>0</NumericAmount><RoundedNumericAmount>0</RoundedNumericAmount><NonNumbericText /><FootnoteIndexer /><CurrencyCode /><CurrencySymbol /><IsIndependantCurrency>false</IsIndependantCurrency><ShowCurrencySymbol>false</ShowCurrencySymbol><DisplayDateInUSFormat>false</DisplayDateInUSFormat></Cell></Cells><ElementDataType>xbrli:stringItemType</ElementDataType><SimpleDataType>string</SimpleDataType><IsTotalLabel>false</IsTotalLabel><UnitID>0</UnitID><Label>Extractive Industries [Abstract]</Label></Row><Row FlagID="0"><Id>2</Id><IsAbstractGroupTitle>false</IsAbstractGroupTitle><LabelSeparator>

</LabelSeparator><Level>2</Level><ElementName>us-gaap_MineralIndustriesDisclosuresTextBlock</ElementName><ElementPrefix>us-gaap_</ElementPrefix><IsBaseElement>true</IsBaseElement><BalanceType>na</BalanceType><PeriodType>duration</PeriodType><IsReportTitle>false</IsReportTitle><IsSegmentTitle>false</IsSegmentTitle><IsCalendarTitle>false</IsCalendarTitle><IsEquityPrevioslyReportedAsRow>false</IsEquityPrevioslyReportedAsRow><IsEquityAdjustmentRow>false</IsEquityAdjustmentRow><IsBeginningBalance>false</IsBeginningBalance><IsEndingBalance>false</IsEndingBalance><IsReverseSign>false</IsReverseSign><FootnoteIndexer /><Cells><Cell FlagID="0" ContextID="From2012-06-01to2013-05-31" UnitID=""><Id>1</Id><IsNumeric>false</IsNumeric><IsRatio>false</IsRatio><DisplayZeroAsNone>false</DisplayZeroAsNone><NumericAmount>0</NumericAmount><RoundedNumericAmount>0</RoundedNumericAmount><NonNumbericText>&lt;p style="margin: 0pt"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="font: 8pt/normal Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Uranium&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="font: 8pt/normal Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0; text-indent: 0.5in"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="font: 8pt/normal Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0"&gt;Excalibur owns various royalty and other interests in patented
and unpatented lode mining claims and mineral leased acreage located in the Powder River Basin, Johnson and Campbell Counties,
Wyoming. Future earned royalties are subject to offset by the amount of certain advance minimum royalty revenues. These properties
were assigned a value of $347,032 following the acquisition of Mountain West by Excalibur. Various acreages have been dropped during
the past years as such acreage was determined to be of no value. The capitalized costs of these properties have been reallocated
to the remaining acreage still retained by Excalibur. The Board of Directors determined that a more realistic value should be placed
on the books and elected to reduce the reporting value for financial statement purposes by $247,032.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="font: 8pt/normal Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0; text-indent: 0.5in"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="font: 8pt/normal Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0"&gt;A summary of capitalized costs of the above properties as
of May 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011 follows:&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style="font: 8pt/normal Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0; text-indent: 0.5in"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="font: 8pt Calibri, Helvetica, Sans-Serif; width: 100%"&gt;
&lt;tr style="vertical-align: bottom"&gt;
    &lt;td style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: black 1pt solid; text-align: center; line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;&lt;b&gt;2013&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td nowrap="nowrap" style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: black 1pt solid; text-align: center; line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;&lt;b&gt;2012&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td nowrap="nowrap" style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td colspan="2" style="border-bottom: black 1pt solid; text-align: center; line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;&lt;b&gt;2011&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td nowrap="nowrap" style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="vertical-align: bottom; background-color: #CCEEFF"&gt;
    &lt;td style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;Uranium&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="border-bottom: black 1.5pt double; line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;$&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="border-bottom: black 1.5pt double; text-align: right; line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;100,000&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td nowrap="nowrap" style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="border-bottom: black 1.5pt double; line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;$&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="border-bottom: black 1.5pt double; text-align: right; line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;100,000&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td nowrap="nowrap" style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="border-bottom: black 1.5pt double; line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;$&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td style="border-bottom: black 1.5pt double; text-align: right; line-height: 115%"&gt;&lt;font style="font: 8pt Times New Roman, Times, Serif"&gt;100,000&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td nowrap="nowrap" style="line-height: 115%"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;
    &lt;td&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;p style="font: 8pt/normal Times New Roman, Times, Serif; margin: 0; text-indent: 0.5in"&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;



&lt;p style="margin: 0pt"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</NonNumbericText><FootnoteIndexer /><CurrencyCode /><CurrencySymbol /><IsIndependantCurrency>false</IsIndependantCurrency><ShowCurrencySymbol>false</ShowCurrencySymbol><DisplayDateInUSFormat>false</DisplayDateInUSFormat></Cell></Cells><ElementDataType>nonnum:textBlockItemType</ElementDataType><SimpleDataType>na</SimpleDataType><ElementDefenition>The entire disclosure for mineral industries.</ElementDefenition><ElementReferences>No definition available.</ElementReferences><IsTotalLabel>false</IsTotalLabel><UnitID>0</UnitID><Label>3. Mining Properties and Interests</Label></Row></Rows><Footnotes /><IsEquityReport>false</IsEquityReport><ReportName>3. Mining Properties and Interests</ReportName><MonetaryRoundingLevel>UnKnown</MonetaryRoundingLevel><SharesRoundingLevel>UnKnown</SharesRoundingLevel><PerShareRoundingLevel>UnKnown</PerShareRoundingLevel><ExchangeRateRoundingLevel>UnKnown</ExchangeRateRoundingLevel><HasCustomUnits>true</HasCustomUnits><IsEmbedReport>false</IsEmbedReport><IsMultiCurrency>false</IsMultiCurrency><ReportType>Sheet</ReportType><RoleURI>http://excaliburindustries.com/role/MiningPropertiesAndInterests</RoleURI><NumberOfCols>1</NumberOfCols><NumberOfRows>2</NumberOfRows></InstanceReport>
