How to reclaim holes???

[Huelten]

That may seem like a stupid question to some but heres my situation. Im a member of a prospecting club and one of the club rules is to reclaim the holes we dig while out prospecting. Im also looking into getting my own claim and its my understanding BLM requires us to reclaim the holes even on our own claims. So heres the question, if i'm running buckets and buckets through either my BGT or my highbanker, yet only getting minimal rocks and leftovers, how is a guy to refill his hole up? Like i said its a silly question that will probably produce a simple answer i'm just unsure. Maybe filling it in with surrounding dirt? But then thats just creating more small holes to fill an big one. Also what if its a hole i wish to further dig in the future? Are we to simply start from scratch every time? Seems like that is ineffective as it would waste hours of time and energy simply moving the overburden we may thrown into the hole just a couple of weeks ago

 

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[Rdg Sluicer]

Find a local Sierra Club member and throw them in the hole first, then fill in your cobbles followed by your tailings.

 

[goldog]

Well with good advise like that who would need more.

But just in case there are no greenies nearby , here's what I'd do. First get guidance from others in the club. Each has their own idea of filling holes.

I try to level the area while preserving my diggings. Some people replace the boulders but then you have to remove em again next week. I knock overburden while paying attention to where the pay dirt is. Mostly you want to leave the area safe , dry and not too unsightly.

 

[B H Prospector]

On my claims I first strip off the topsoil and store it off to the side. I then will remove worthless overburden and stockpile it in another area. Then while I am digging and classifying I will stockpile the waste in a spot near the hole. Once I am finished working the hole, it maybe a few years, I will then throw the waste and boulders into the hole covered by the stockpiled overburden and groomed the best possible I can and then cover that with the stockpiled topsoil. Then get with the FS or BLM and find out what type of vegetation I need to plant. By the way this is all done with pick and shovel and a wheel borrow.


Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[Goldwasher]

In order to not leave holes we clean out the whole area
It is a difficult situation to fill in a hole that most likely you were digging to get to bed rock or a pay layer.
If you intend to hit it again and are afraid someone may hit it while your gone then roll in a forty pounder, a few fifteen to twenty pound rocks' a few willow branches and drift wood' douse the edges with two or three partial buckets of creek water, more of a depression than a hole....pack up and head to your rig. If you run into a dude with a badge and your on a club claim then you don't even know what a hole is...oh, you mean that one I think its from last season.

If your power-sluicing then previous dig holes make great settling/tailings ponds.

Just don't leave giant gnarly holes.

Or maybe you can just buy some Carbon Credits................

 

[goldenIrishman]

Well I've got a little bit different situation out here in the desert. When I'm working the bottom of a wash I usually work my way upstream from my starting point. As I run materials through my recirc system I stockpile the tailings on the down stream side of the hole. Once I have the hole large enough, I start dumping the tailing and rocks back into it. That way when I'm done digging (usually after working the area for a week) I don't have a huge hole to fill in. Kind of a back fill as you go method. On our last trip out my partner and I both moved about 3-1/2 yards to get a single yard of classified materials. He didn't listen to me and ended up with a huge hole to fill in before we left. Mine took me all of 10 minutes to finish filling and I was ready to load up and head home.

 

[Jimmydolittle]

Weeellll now, as a respectable miner, I like to pick up all the trash I find and take it out with me. Don't want it to pollute the water, or earth.

Find a local Sierra Club member and throw them in the hole first, then fill in your cobbles followed by your tailings.

 

[2cmorau]

Nature takes care of filling most of my digs, if your having problems with the badge and your working a spot and will be away for awhile, post a sign, tie off something with yellow caution tape, just to let thge nosey people know this is work in progress, on a side note i have never had a problem with holes not filled in as i do tend to go back to them yearly, and the man never has made a complaint to me

 

[rodoconnor]

In some desert areas you have the Desert Tortoise to contend with. You don't want to leave any sort of hole that they can get trapped in.

 

[mcordell]

Big flat rock like a man hole cover. Done.

 

[G-bone]

Weeellll now, as a respectable miner, I like to pick up all the trash I find and take it out with me. Don't want it to pollute the water, or earth.

BUDDUM-BUM-TISHHH
nice one!

 

[jog]

It is my understanding that if you fill in your test holes while digging on a federal mining claim because the BLM says so then your covering up your prospects which is what proves your discovery, BLM will now say you are recreational. Now if you already have a discovery and your using heavy equipment with a Plan of Operation that would be another story.
I would like to get Clays input on this one if he would?

 

[russau]

they think we ALL are recreational anyway! all of their paperwork says recreational.

 

[goldenIrishman]

No such thing as a "recreational" miner. Small scale or large, we're miners. Since both large and small scale miners pay the same fees per 20 acres of claimed area, there should be no such differentiation as "Recreational". People that go to a "pay to play" location are recreational, claim owners are not!!!

As long as we keep calling ourselves the "R" word, we're not going to be treated like the businessmen we really are. We all pay our fees, work our claims with all different levels of equipment and some try to make a living this way. Since when is busting your back digging in the earth recreation? Might as well say that all those people working in office jobs are recreating too!

 

[rodoconnor]

Go move 5 or 10 yards of overburden with a shovel, then tell us it was recreational

 

[Tree!]

What works best for me is; while working a waterway, I dig all the material that I'm going to run first and toss it upstream. Once I have a proper area to set up in the hole, I start running upstream and filling in downstream with my tailing as I go.
And for prospects I just bust down the edges of the hole to a slope downward.

 

[russau]

I agree with that "R" word! it has caused lots of problems with these gubermint agencys. they keep printing that "R" word in their paperwork and keep referring to us as "R" . as everyone recalls , that "R" word isn't mentioned in the mining laws at all! and then comes along the gpaa and they keep referring to themselves as "R" prospectors. we have been shooting ourselves in the foot everytime we use that "R" word!

 

[goldenIrishman]

Maybe we all need to send GPAA a bunch of letters requesting that they stop using the "R" word as it's is harming all miners. They could say that they're "Future claim owners in training", or a "Placer Mining Training Service". ANYTHING but the "R" word. I feel pretty sure that "The Buzzard" would have agreed with this. Last thing he would ever have wanted was to do other miners harm by his words.

 

[goldenIrishman]

I agree with that "R" word! it has caused lots of problems with these gubermint agencys. they keep printing that "R" word in their paperwork and keep referring to us as "R" . as everyone recalls , that "R" word isn't mentioned in the mining laws at all! and then comes along the gpaa and they keep referring to themselves as "R" prospectors. we have been shooting ourselves in the foot everytime we use that "R" word!

I have a feeling the government is doing that on purpose to set us up for a fall later. It would be much easier for them to shut down claims if they're called "recreational" rather than if they're looked at as a business. This is one reason that we have to stop using that word.

The paper pushers in Washington, for the most part, have no idea how much work a claim is. I'd be willing to wager that if we could get everyone of them to have to work a claim for a month that they'd have no choice but to agree that it's NOT recreational in any meaning of the word! We know it's some of the hardest work out there. Working in the heat, the cold, bad weather and not even knowing if you're going to make enough to pay the bills is very stressful to say the least. Let's get them out of their cushy office and teach them what the working end of a shovel looks like! They would have no choice but to be changing their tune.

 

[Clay Diggins]

It is my understanding that if you fill in your test holes while digging on a federal mining claim because the BLM says so then your covering up your prospects which is what proves your discovery, BLM will now say you are recreational. Now if you already have a discovery and your using heavy equipment with a Plan of Operation that would be another story.
I would like to get Clays input on this one if he would?

Well - you asked for it.

The original poster asked about filling holes for the club claims. Follow the rules of the club. If you won't be digging the hole again throw the rock in first and the smaller material on top. If you intend to uncover it later put the rock on top so you can find the spot later and dig the material underneath easier.

Miners dig holes. It's what we do. There is no legal requirement to fill your hole. The largest mines in the United States are huge pits that will never be filled. Mine shafts abound.

There are practical reasons to fill holes. The biggest issue for small miners is grazing stock and wild animals. A big hole with a cow in it will add up to a big bill from a rancher. In the west miners often share the land with grazing allotments. A wild animal in your hole can be a pain in the azz. If it's large you may need to kill it to get it out safely. If it's already dead you still have to try to move a lot of dead meat before you can work. A live POed Yak in a working pit can be a real problem (don't ask ). In all cases you will be facing some irate person. Either the rancher or fish and game are going to want their cut.

Miners have a right and a practical duty to fence or block off access to their active diggings. Put up some T posts and string some fence with signs warning of the danger. Simple age old solution. Miners can be good neighbors and dig holes.

Proof of discovery does not depend on exposed workings. Discover your valuable minerals by best practices. Sometimes that means exposed workings and sometimes that means filling as you go. It all depends on the nature of the deposit and the terrain. It's different every time.

Proof of discovery is in the test results, industry standard calculations, market and transportation studies, professional reports, affidavits and/or witnesses. Permanently exposed holes not necessary.

As a side note the BLM has no category that applies to "recreational" mining. All the permitted recreational prospecting in the United States takes place in designated recreation areas set aside from the Public Lands mineral grant. Think Cache Creek, Colorado or Whiskeytown, California. Those are recreational prospecting areas - no mining or claims permitted.

Here is what the Forest Service had to say about the distinction between recreational and commercial mining is. This is straight from the Federal Register 11/06/2008.

Nonetheless, the Organic Administration Act (16 U.S.C. 482) reapplied the United States mining laws (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.) to Forest Service lands reserved from the public domain pursuant to the Creative Act of 1891 (§ 24, 26 Stat. 1095, 1103 (1891), repealed by Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, § 704(a), 90 Stat., 2743, 2792 (1976)). Under the United States mining laws, United States citizens may enter such reserved NFS lands to prospect or explore for and remove valuable deposits of certain minerals referred to as locatable minerals. However, no distinction between persons conducting locatable mineral operations primarily for “recreational” versus “commercial” purposes nor a difference between the requirements applicable to operations conducted for these purposes is recognized by the United States mining laws, the Organic Administration Act, 36 CFR part 228, subpart A or 36 CFR part 261, subpart A. Thus, to the extent that individuals or members of mining clubs are prospecting for or mining valuable deposits of locatable minerals, and making use of or occupying Forest Service lands for functions, work or activities which are reasonably incidental to such prospecting and mining, it does not matter whether those operations are described as “recreational” or “commercial.”

That's my two cents worth, don't spend it all in one place!

Heavy Pans