mining claim question

Asmbandits

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Mar 4, 2014
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So I have read that an individual can claim up to 20 acres alone. Can an individual locate and claim two separate 20 acre claims alone or are you limited to 20 acres period? My situation would be wanting to locate two 20 acre claims in the same section alone? Everything Ive seen worded just says acres I want to be clear before I head out into the field. Any input would be greatly appreciated!
 

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Goldwasher

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May 26, 2009
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you can claim as many 20 acre claims as you want. Once your over ten you lose the small miners waiver.
 

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Asmbandits

Asmbandits

Bronze Member
Mar 4, 2014
1,039
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Primary Interest:
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Awesome thats what I was thinking to be ture, Thanks for the clarification GW!
 

Goldwasher

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May 26, 2009
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I got your back
 

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Asmbandits

Asmbandits

Bronze Member
Mar 4, 2014
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NorCal
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Fisher GB2, Bazooka Prospector 36", EZ sluice, Blue Bowl..
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I have another question, in California what information should I have on my discovery monument? If I understand correctly, I will attach my location notice to this after filing, but before that has happened what info needs to be posted?
 

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Asmbandits

Asmbandits

Bronze Member
Mar 4, 2014
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I got your back

Its greatly appreciated! I want to make sure im doing everything proper with this, im headed out this weekend to scout some land and want to be prepared for what I find. :icon_thumleft:
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
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Sailor Flat, Ca.
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Bring two location notice forms with you. If you Make a discovery fill them both out. Make your monument. Go file at the county then bring the recorded copy to the Sac. office with you. Try to get someone non involved with the claim with to take witness pics. I know it may be hard but, you may want to wait until October to locate. Otherwise you will be locating this year pay the 300 plus and then need to fill out you A.O.A and S.M.W pay the county for that recording back to back. I will be making a new location but am waiting until after the filing deadline for this year.

Barry if I'm wrong on any of this please advise.
 

Clay Diggins

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Nov 14, 2010
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Put your location notice on the monument when you erect it. That is when your claim is made, the public notice at the county is a required paper formality but the claim is made on the ground when you monument and post. Do not wait to put a filed or recorded notice on your monument, there is no requirement that the location notice on the monument be recorded first. Your location isn't protected until you post the notice so make that a part of your monument as soon as you erect it.

The location notice needs to have locator name and address, claim name and type, legal land description or metes and bounds description including county, Meridian and Baseline, Township and Range, Section and at least quarter section, claim size, a description of the monument location on the claim, a map of the claim boundaries and a signed and dated declaration.

Although California does not require a placer located by aliquot part to have corner monuments you are still required by federal law to clearly mark the boundaries on the ground. Witnesses and pictures are not required but they are the best way to establish your claim location date and may save you a lot of grief further down the line.

As Goldwasher wrote, if you can wait until Sept 1 your costs will be halved. If the claim is really worth having you might want to spend the money anyway but if you are still trying to prove your discovery the wait might be a better choice.

You can submit a small miners at the time you file with the BLM if you decide to locate before September 1. You have to pay the maintenance fee the first year but by filing small miner's you can avoid paying the $155 again before September 1. The date you monument is the day you located your claim so if you monument before September 1 but don't file with BLM until after September 1 you still owe the fees for both years.

Hope that helps

Heavy Pans
 

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Asmbandits

Asmbandits

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NorCal
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Fisher GB2, Bazooka Prospector 36", EZ sluice, Blue Bowl..
Primary Interest:
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Good info GW, The claim that I purchased has a location notice in place that is a laminated sheet with the claim name and CAMC number on it and that is it, and from what Ive seen in the field there have been quite a few that are very similar. I have found a couple with a location document in a can with more detailed info that would be found on the location document. I have seen photos of old discovery monuments that just say a claim name and "discovery monument" and thats it. Possibly I'm thinking that the two are separate and this is my issue? I had planned to make my discovery and corner markers with rock piles then when I returned would have my location notice made and posted with wood post. So location document that you would file is what should be used and left at discovery location, then once filed return and just ad the CAMC #?

I was hoping to just have the claim name and # on my location document as I have seen elsewhere but is this not sufficient?

Thanks Barry! was typing ad didn't see your response. So my claim needs to have the actual location notice info and not just the sign with the claim name and #.. I need to fix that asap if thats the case, always figured what was there was sufficient.
 

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Clay Diggins

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Good info GW, The claim that I purchased has a location notice in place that is a laminated sheet with the claim name and CAMC number on it and that is it, and from what Ive seen in the field there have been quite a few that are very similar. I have found a couple with a location document in a can with more detailed info that would be found on the location document. I have seen photos of old discovery monuments that just say a claim name and "discovery monument" and thats it. Possibly I'm thinking that the two are separate and this is my issue? I had planned to make my discovery and corner markers with rock piles then when I returned would have my location notice made and posted with wood post. So location document that you would file is what should be used and left at discovery location, then once filed return and just ad the CAMC #?

I was hoping to just have the claim name and # on my location document as I have seen elsewhere but is this not sufficient?

If you purchased the claim there is no need to re locate it. A simple quit claim at the County Recorder and a Transfer of Interest with the BLM ($10) and your purchased claim keeps the same name and CAMC#. No new location fees or paperwork needed. Just make sure you pay your 2017 fees or submit a small miner's before Sept 1.

It's not a bad idea to renew the existing monuments and markings on the claim but it's not required.

Heavy Pans
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,225
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
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Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
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yea what he said8-)
 

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Asmbandits

Asmbandits

Bronze Member
Mar 4, 2014
1,039
2,290
NorCal
Detector(s) used
Fisher GB2, Bazooka Prospector 36", EZ sluice, Blue Bowl..
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
If you purchased the claim there is no need to re locate it. A simple quit claim at the County Recorder and a Transfer of Interest with the BLM ($10) and your purchased claim keeps the same name and CAMC#. No new location fees or paperwork needed. Just make sure you pay your 2017 fees or submit a small miner's before Sept 1.

It's not a bad idea to renew the existing monuments and markings on the claim but it's not required.

Heavy Pans

Sorry this is getting confusing on my part, I already own a claim but I had purchased it and not located it myself. When I saw the posted location notice/discovery monument being just the claim name and camc # and thats all, I never questioned If it was all the info needed as I did not really know better and seeing that it has a claim # that has been recorded I always though it was sufficient as a location monument. But if I need to have the actual location notice posted there instead of this then I would do so, I have copies given to me with the sale.

I had the quit claim deed filed when I made the purchase, its in my name and as far as I know all good, filed it with blm and county. Im just questioning my location monument at this claim now after reading what is required for location and location monument. All that is there for a location monument is a sign with the claim name and #. There is no location document with the info you mentioned located on the claim other than that sign. But I have the original location document that was filled with blm and county in my possession.

Im preparing to possibly locate another claim or two 20 acre claims possibly for my first time so I'm trying to make sure I am locating properly since I have not done this part before. I came close last year to locating on some land and had everything planned out but when I checked with the county half of the area was in fact claimed and the other half not worth it so I gave up on that location and never got this far.
 

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Hoser John

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Get to the local BLM office and byt the Claims Manual so ALL aspects get covered. Also on the net so cost is zero. There will always be more questions and in writing always works. Keep the manual in your truck along with anything else to help educate the occifers out in the sticks who think they know it all but absolutely don't. Personal interpretation will vanish by all parties as the REAL answers lies within. John
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,225
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
MAN Josh is such a dummy claim flipper. Considering that he claims to be a consultant and own a "mining company" he should know you have to have the location notice in your monument in a jar or can or tube. It's been that way always.

Make sure you get that taken care of.
 

Clay Diggins

Silver Member
Nov 14, 2010
4,908
14,317
The Great Southwest
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Get to the local BLM office and byt the Claims Manual so ALL aspects get covered. Also on the net so cost is zero. There will always be more questions and in writing always works. Keep the manual in your truck along with anything else to help educate the occifers out in the sticks who think they know it all but absolutely don't. Personal interpretation will vanish by all parties as the REAL answers lies within. John

Please do not rely on instructions from the BLM. They have no responsibility to give you correct information and often give out information that will cause you to lose your claim.

Examples:

For many years the BLM has promoted December 31st as the deadline for filing work affidavits. For just as many years the BLM has closed all claims that did not file by December 30th - the legal deadline set by Congress. Thousands of claims lost.

In several States the BLM offers claim location "forms" that don't meet the basic requirements for a valid mining claim location. BLM only has one official approved mining claim form and that is the small miner's Maintenance Fee Waiver declaration 3830. At best their other "forms" are suggestions.

The legal deadline set by law for the required annual claim filings is 12:01 am September 1. The BLM encourages you to believe the deadline is end of day September 1. Please make your annual filings before September 1 or risk the BLM closing your claims for following their instructions. They haven't done it yet but the day may come when they decide to "clean house" on all those claims that filed late.

The BLM could care less if the information they offer is accurate. You can't sue and win against a government agency for giving you incorrect information. Here's an example from the Plumas County Recorder just this past year:

NOTICE TO MINERS - 2015 Annual Assessment Work - Proof of Labor
Incorrect forms were sent out from the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for local mining claims this year. They do not meet the California requirements for recording documents. We have mailed the correct forms with the current tax year statements to assist you this year. Please use the correct form to avoid having your paperwork returned unrecorded and avoid missing the deadline to get your document recorded. If you did not receive the form in the mail from Plumas County, you may download the form here:

Affidavit of Assessment - Proof of Labor Form

Please note, the correct form is 2 pages and will save you additional recording fees. Also, this form has no requirement to be notarized, you just have to submit the original document for recording. If you have questions, you may contact our office at 530-283-6218.

Notice that the other California Counties did not let you know your Assessment Work filings did not meet the legal requirement to keep your claims. Wanna guess how that would work out in court?

There is a reason the BLM puts a disclaimer on their information.
NO WARRANTY IS MADE BY BLM
FOR USE OF THE DATA FOR
PURPOSES NOT INTENDED BY BLM


It's not their fault if you lose your claim because of misinformation they gave you. The BLM regularly makes mistakes (sometimes intentional?) that cause people to lose their claims. I could give you many more instances of the BLM giving misinformation that causes those who believe to lose their claims. This is a constant ongoing problem that I deal with many times each year.

No matter what information the BLM gives you make sure you know the facts from a reliable source. Read and understand the laws. Do your due diligence or risk being fooled by the BLM into losing your claim.

The BLM is not your friend. The BLM is not required to give you accurate information. This may come as a surprise to some but their are many people in the BLM who would like to see all claims be closed. Don't let your claim be one of them.

Heavy Pans
 

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Asmbandits

Asmbandits

Bronze Member
Mar 4, 2014
1,039
2,290
NorCal
Detector(s) used
Fisher GB2, Bazooka Prospector 36", EZ sluice, Blue Bowl..
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ok, so now that I know I need to have the location form there at the monument, the location form that is on file has everything in the sellers name. Since the quit claim deed changes ownership and I am now the owner do I modifiy the info on the location notice I post to show I am responsible for and own or post the original that has all his info? I would think the original but then it would seem as if he were still the owner?
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,225
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Ok, so now that I know I need to have the location form there at the monument, the location form that is on file has everything in the sellers name. Since the quit claim deed changes ownership and I am now the owner do I modifiy the info on the location notice I post to show I am responsible for and own or post the original that has all his info? I would think the original but then it would seem as if he were still the owner?
I go to the office on Cottage Way personally. Screw having mail issues. After they take my money and give me this years paperwork, I take the new copies and replace the old ones at the monument. I expect someone to use the excuse that the paperwork had old dates or whatever. Highraders are professional liars.You will hear every excuse.no signs or corners posted..I didn't know I was on a claim etc. Someone like you or I that have relatively remote claims need to do whatever we can to discourage. If you don't mind pm me your cmac I'm curious about your serial registry. I was looking into the guy who you purchased from before I knew you purchased from him and I found several issues with claims he was selling. I want to have a look at your file.
 

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