how do I file a claim on private land in California? Clay, John O.?

S

Seden

Sr. Member
Jan 28, 2008
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I want to prospect on a spot that has a high potential for undiscovered hardrock gold according to the USGS, but it's on private land in the desert. There's a couple of sub-questions: one is if the owner DOES have mineral rights and two is if they do not. Clay or John Oates in particular I would appreciate your help.

Much appreciated,

Randy Seden
 

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Not only do you have to deal with the issue of who owns the mineral right you also have to deal with County and State permits or no permits!

Bejay
 

Get permission from the owner and split the gold
 

You can't trespass. Have to deal with owner, then the government. And if a 3rd party already has the mineral right, you have to deal with them too.
 

you would have to find out if it is a split estate or not, it wouldn't be prospecting under the mining laws it would be leasing requiring a contract
if the fed's or state own the mineral right, look into an exploration permit. if the state owns the mineral rights you could pay to prospect State land

for a private land owner you would want to have a contract for protection if you find something and royalty for the land owner.
research would include GLO records, Land status records, Master title plat, maybe title/deed search or county property tax records,
If you find that the land owner or corporation does own the mineral rights then you would have to convince them to give you access.
 

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you would have to have the right to extract the mineral and legal right to the surface. State land...sounds like a lot of time and money to be able to actually sample.
 

Thanks guy's for all the great advice! If the USGS is correct it will be worth all the time and money. Tracking down the owner's going to be the problem. When the state added a highway to Bakersfield, they had a track owners from foreign countries! This land was sold for cheap back in the 50's and 60's.
 

Be aware that USGS shows many of the "same" deposits in "multiple" locations

Much of that data is second hand or transfered from multiple sources. I would be wary of anything short of an actual mineral survey or locatable mine report with the actual original location description. By twnshp sec. quarter etc.

Seems like when they started converting to GPS they scattered a lot of the info all over the map

I rarely ever find acurate on the ground USGS data...They plot most of the mines around me way off from where they actually are.
 

Bakersfield... that adds another dimension you would also have to check for reserved rights in deeds because of oil.
could also work to your benefit if some big outfit holds the mineral rights, they are looking for oil you are looking for other minerals.
could be as simple as walking into their office and signing a form to give you access.

if its Kern county might be able to search online from here;
Kern County Assessor - Search Page
you'll need the tax number from the map by zooming in to your area of interest, then put that into the search page above;
https://www.kerncounty.com/gis/gisdisclaimer.aspx (takes time to load)

you also want to be careful what you tell them what you want to do. sampling at the surface
or mapping out good locations is one thing, drilling, bore holes, full blown exploration would fall under CEQA.
 

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Original monuments

Hello
Since the topic of "Private ownership" is pointed out with the first post. This one would like to point out the following:
In the event that the original monuments have become lost the surveyor cannot hope effectively to recover said corners without a full understanding of the record concerning their original establishment, nor can the surveyor hope legally to restore the same until he has mastered not only the principles observed in the execution of the original survey, but the principles upon which the courts having jurisdiction over such matters have based their rulings.
The function of the local surveyor begins when he is employed as an expert to identify the lands which have passed into private ownership; this may be a simple or a most complex problem, depending largely upon the condition of the original monuments as affected principally by the lapse of time since the execution of the official survey.
Click to expand...
 

Hello
Is there any "Monuments and Corner Accessories" still in 'Place' in the desert? If so what are the "Markings" thereof?
 

Assembler said:
Hello
Is there any "Monuments and Corner Accessories" still in 'Place' in the desert? If so what are the "Markings" thereof?
Click to expand...
Does Kern County Clerk (or the County thereof) have the "Certificate of Surveyor, Certificate of Approval, Certificate of Transcript, and Certificate for Patent Application on Mineral Survey No" on file / record?
 

One ugly can of worms Randy I think you might not want to entertain. As private is private and for me that's just too much TROUBLE is to ensue. See if they want to sell would be my only suggestion contingent upon mineral rights and sampling. Just my humble opinion. John
 

Hoser John said:
One ugly can of worms Randy I think you might not want to entertain. As private is private and for me that's just too much TROUBLE is to ensue. See if they want to sell would be my only suggestion contingent upon mineral rights and sampling. Just my humble opinion. John
Click to expand...
It appears the "Private Land Boundaries" is made clear from a "Plat or Plats" is this correct? If so then the information is available.
The suggestion of 'Contract contingent upon mineral rights and sampling' should be asked.
Just asking if some of the "Certificates" can be read as well?
 

Winners58-good advice and links-thank you.

John-I treasure you sage advice and will follow it. If I can't afford to buy I walk away-period. As you know I've got the dope on the Goler Formation and which is on BLM land and so will pursue it instead. Just need to file,get the permit and rent a backhoe. Pretty cheap to work with careful planning. I'm still kicking myself for selling my claim in Sand Canyon out in Goler so I got a school'n. Darn woodshed's anyhow!

 

Any other information found out about?
 

I have always read: See who's paying the tax's and ask them! The County's Records ought to have this info! OR the Tax Assessor's office. I usually use a County Platte book bought from that County's Office. they are usually inexpensive.!
 

russau said:
I have always read: See who's paying the tax's and ask them! The County's Records ought to have this info! OR the Tax Assessor's office. I usually use a County Platte book bought from that County's Office. they are usually inexpensive.!
Click to expand...
Yes this can tell a lot of what is going on. Thanks for the tip russau.
 

russau said:
I have always read: See who's paying the tax's and ask them! The County's Records ought to have this info! OR the Tax Assessor's office. I usually use a County Platte book bought from that County's Office. they are usually inexpensive.!
Click to expand...

Most of the county tax assessor Offices now have their ownership maps online for free :)
 

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