Finding out what was mined?

[thudson]

I have a lead on an old cabin , mine shack and old mine. I am going to go metal detecting on this place but need to know how I would go about finding out what was mined here. The location is in Wyoming and is now part of a state forest area. Who would have records of the mining claims in Wyoming , Carbon county? Figured if I knew what was being mined I would have a better idea of finding something. I have no idea how claims were established so I could really use some help. HH Tyler

[djui5]

Should be a tailings pile with evidence. Also, you should be able to look the mine up in the county/BLM records. It'll tell what kind of mine it was.

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Def..Djui, right on. All counties have an office for mining claims etc, also the state. Tons of excellent information in them.

Tropical Tramp

[Jeffro]

The county recorders office, usually located in the county seat. Also, the USGS has a series of bulletins published. The one for Oregon has a lot of info on all the historical mines, perhaps you can find one for Montana?

[thudson]

After a phone call to county clerk to find out that they wont do any record searches , I got ahold of the national forest service and bought a BLM map from them that will show township , range and section coordinates. Just what I need to look up the mine and owner. The NFS took over all the land in this area in 1916 so know the mine is older than that. .Thanks for all the help ,I will let you know age and what was being mined when I find out. HH

[Jeffro]

BLM used to have a mining record search on the net called LR 2000. I understand its been out of service for several years though.

It was a fantastic tool for locating mines and checking legal status. Saved a lot of legwork.

[Smithsgold]

http://www.blm.gov/lr2000/


Works great this should help you out.
Jeff

[djui5]

Works great this should help you out.
Jeff

No, that doesn't work great. I clicked on my claim and it is highly unaccurate.

[Jeffro]

Been awhile since I looked for it- pretty much given up all hope of it ever coming back! LOL! When did they get it back up and running?

I just checked my old claim and its open- along with another I'd been wanting to file on for some time.... hmmmmm!

[Paul in WA]

Be VERY cafeful taking anything off of US Forest land. I don't think you able to remove anything at all as far as relics go.

Paul

[djui5]

Our claims information is incorrect also. I don't think they have worked on the site for awhile.

Exactly!! I'm trying to warn people NOT to use that for claim info. It could turn out quite badly on their end

[Jeffro]

What is incorrect on both of yours' claim info? Status? or something else?

[djui5]

mine didn't even show up on the list. There are 3 with similar names, and none of them showed up, which is strange. They've been there for a long time.

[Jeffro]

Try the public MC Geo report- I think its more up to date than a place name search, if I remember correctly. You'll need the T/R/S info for your claim.

The ones I looked up already had the 2007 recordation.

[djui5]

I called the BLM today, and the lady told me to go to the lr2000. I told her it wasn't correct, and she said they can take up to 2 years to update it. bah...
She said she was going to send me some info about claims, so we'll see what she sends. I'll report back when I get the info....

[Jeffro]

Like I say, its been years since I used it. But from what I recall, different areas of the searches came up different, as each was updated. It never hurts to cross reference to find out which has the most up to date info.

If I remember correctly, I used the geo report and searched for inactive claims in a given township. That way you could see the history of each, and find out which were recently abandoned. Still had to go to the recorders office to check for new filings, but it saved time.

It'll definately take some time to learn the system again. Thanks, smithsgold!

[MesaBuddy]

Try this it is one of the best I have found , have some other ones that are software but cost mucho $$$$$
http://www.mindat.org/lsearch.php?loc=Maricopa%20Co.
Try location search as I did , new and old they're all there but really check before ya go digging because none of these systems are 100% accurate and that goes for Govt. sites/search engines
Buddy

[cptbil]

Yeah!
But!
The best bet is STILL !
Go out and sample the tailings & also, get a sample of the "face" !
Just make sure that you don't bring down the roof!
OR!
Step into "THAT!" unseen shaft, in the middle of the tunnel!
That'll sure ruin your day!