The final word on closed claims.

[blackchipjim]

So I need oppinions and guidance on a section of BLM land. I have researched the area and with some certainty I believe the section has no open claims. All the claims listed have been closed for some time. Land matters and the diggings are the only research tools that I've used. I will eventually go to the county to recheck the section if I find anything worth pursuing.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[Clay Diggins]

Check the County before you prospect. The BLM does not determine whether a claim is valid. The BLM is really slow sometimes in filing new locations. Legally the due diligence required to prospect for valuable minerals requires that you check the public record (County Recorder) and search for new locations on the ground.

I realize you can't check for locations on the ground until you arrive but it's pretty easy to check County Recorders online. Land Matters gives you a link on each claim information return so you can look over the public record right from the map. County Recorders in Arizona usually update those online records within two weeks of receiving the recording.

When a claim is classified as "CLOSED" at the BLM it means the case file is closed - not the claim. You need to dig deeper because it's pretty common for the BLM to have that "CLOSED" status overturned at the IBLA. That takes a while and when they do get overturned they seem to enjoy taking a while to update the case file status to "ACTIVE".

Do the research before you get there and you will be much less likely to waste time going to spots that are already claimed.

Heavy Pans

 

[blackchipjim]

Thanks I thought closed meant the claim was closed as in inactive. If the claim was closed and showed no fees paid for years isn't it really closed? I'm getting little confused. Isn't the diggings linked to the county records or at least in concert with them?

 

[Clay Diggins]

Thanks I thought closed meant the claim was closed as in inactive. If the claim was closed and showed no fees paid for years isn't it really closed? I'm getting little confused. Isn't the diggings linked to the county records or at least in concert with them?

If a claims fees haven't been paid in years it could very well mean it's an abandoned claim. We can't know that without more information than what the BLM provides. There is a situation where the claim could still be valid but there have never been any fees paid. IF the claim was submitted for a patent before the end of October 1993 there would be no fees due but the claim would still be valid until a patent is granted. To this day there are mining claims waiting on a patent so this is not just a theoretical situation.

The Diggings has no connection or links with the County Recorder. That part is entirely up to the prospector. Land Matters provides a link to the County Recorder for your convenience. The actual research at the County Recorder is, in all cases, up to you.

On another thread you heard from a man who has a claim on water with gold in Arizona. Like anyone else he got that claim by researching the County record after seeing a potential open area on Land Matters. He then checked on the ground for new claims monuments. This is a multi step process every prospector has gone through since 1866. There are no shortcuts. The BLM case file status is just one of those steps and it's a relatively new step.

The BLM wasn't even involved in mining claims until 1976. There was no LR2000 until 2000. The BLM does not determine claim validity but they do provide a clunky way to check on claim case status within the BLM case files.

The Diggings and Land Matters are just easier ways to see what the BLM case status is. Both those websites update the claim status twice a month. Other websites and pay services update every month or so. No website uses County Records.

For a claim to remain valid both the County Recorder and the BLM are required to receive an annual update. For the County Recorder a certified public record must be made. For the BLM an informational filing is required. In some States stakes and monuments have to be checked annually. In a few counties taxes may be due annually.

You really need to check both the BLM and the County to know the status of a claim. The BLM and the County do not communicate. The County will have a copy of the original location notice, a map and any sales, transfers, fees paid or labor performed. The BLM just has their case files which may or may not reflect the official record at the County Recorder. County Records are evidence a court will consider to be true. County Records can be certified and attested to by the elected County Recorder in court. The BLM can not and will not certify their files and they will not testify in court.

BLM files are informational only. Most claim status is very straightforward but there are always exceptions like the patent exception I outlined above. Since the BLM files are only informational you can not rely on them exclusively for claim or land status. When I'm asked a question about a claims status I can not give anyone an absolute yes or no answer based on what the BLM files show.

Here's a very current example of the problem with relying on BLM case file status - in the last two weeks the California BLM changed a group of 28 placer claims case status from ACTIVE to CLOSED. Those claims were located in 1993. If you had checked the BLM case status through the LR2000 or one of the free or paid claims maps just last month you would have seen 28 ACTIVE claims there. If you had checked the County Recorder you would have seen those claims were closed by a District Court order in 1999. The BLM kept those claims in ACTIVE status for 19 years even though there were no claims. Big BLM Boo Boo and certainly not the only one this month.

In the above case the BLM showed 2,515 acres as claimed up when in actuality there had been no claims there since 1999. A person who relied on only the BLM files would still be wandering around the edges thinking "those sure must be great claims for someone to keep them for 25 years" when in fact the claims only existed for 6 years.

By law a prospector has to do their due diligence and check all the land status before going on the land. That means, at the least, checking the Master Title Plat, the BLM case files, the County Record and checking for stakes on the ground. If you do those things you will not only have done your legal duty but you will know a lot more about the status of the lands you are prospecting. That protects you from trespass claims and often leads you to open areas you would have never known about if you had relied on BLM case files.

Land status research before prospecting is a skill. Successful prospectors understand it's a skill that is just as important as panning or properly setting up a sluice or a drywasher. The better you are at your prospecting skills (including land status research) the chances of you getting on good gold in a reasonable time go way up.

Heavy Pans

 

[blackchipjim]

I have gone to the county recorders online to recheck my area that I'm poking around. I'm still learning how to go about doing it the right way. I did that last year and looked for anything that would be a marker in any shape or form and found nada. I would be more concerned if I was doing anything that could be construed as mineral tresspass.

 

[winners58]

check the master title plat, check the Resource/Land use plan for the area,
look for any designations such as recreational corridors, withdraws or ACEC

for land-use plans chose state from the plans in-development page
then plus + sign at the bottom of page for current plans in effect.
https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/plans-in-development
I usually search by keyword after finding the documents in the e-planning page.