Prospectors Research Tools

[Clay Diggins]

Prospector's Research Tools

I haven't been around much this summer and with the desert prospecting season just starting it's a good time to show off what I did this long hot summer. I have been working with a few friends on a new non-profit organization to give you a single place for all your land research.

The result is MyLandMatters.Org. This is the gateway to your land information repository. Maps, books, tutorials, community resources and quality, easy-to-access information about the land around you.

No ads, No memberships, No log-in required.

This past spring while sitting around with some friends we came to the conclusion that most of the important and useful things that we want to know about the land around us was difficult to locate and tough to understand. Despite the many sources of information there was no single place to find the information available.

We decided we could do something about that. We agreed to put our time and energy into creating a single place that anyone could find the answers to questions about the land.

It's a big project. It has taken a lot of work, learning and resources to get things started. But after six months of long days, and more than a few nights, the Land Matters repository is ready for you to use.

Land Matters is all about the land. You can find Land Status Maps, Active Mining Claims Maps (with live direct links into the current LR2000 claims database), A great collection of mining books, Land Laws, Geology books and maps, Forest Travel Plans and a whole lot more.

Land Matters is for land users. Our collections are guided by community input. That's you. Let us know what kind of material you would like to find in our Library or a particular map you would like to see. Help us build Land Matters to best serve the community.

We've already got a lot of things that prospectors have been asking for - the claims maps alone were almost universally requested. Land Matters isn't just for prospectors and miners. But you can help prioritize our efforts and drive the content of Land Matters. Prospectors now have a unique opportunity to help guide and build an information resource designed by prospectors and for prospectors.

We are just getting started filling the Library but there will be hundreds of books, maps and items added in the next few weeks. We've even got a Newsletter so you can get regular updates about new additions to the Land Matters repository.

Check it out and let me know what you think. Here are a few good places to start:

Tutorials - the current focus is on understanding Land Status.
Maps - We all like maps and we've got some you will love.
Library - search for something.

Heavy Pans
Barry & Leigh

 

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[Clay Diggins]

Nice clarification rockbar.

Corporations are the same as individuals under the mining laws. They are limited to 20 acres of placer or 20.66 acres of lode.

Corporations can be single members of association placer claims but they can not own an association claim over 20 acres by themselves unless there there is a proven discovery.

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[rockbar]

goldenI,
Just signed up for your Land Matters Claims Advantage membership.
Looking forward to learning more and possibly help a friend find his own ground.

 

[rockbar]

Any distinction between Corporations and LLC's here in Az as far as the mining laws are concerned?

 

[SLNugget]

30 Days to Refile An Actively Worked Claim?

" Consider that if a claim is being actively worked the owners have 30 days to relocate a CLOSED claim before anyone else can."

Where does this come from, the State Law, Federal Mining Laws, the BLM or where? First time I ever saw or heard of it.

 

[Clay Diggins]

" Consider that if a claim is being actively worked the owners have 30 days to relocate a CLOSED claim before anyone else can."

Where does this come from, the State Law, Federal Mining Laws, the BLM or where? First time I ever saw or heard of it.

I knew someone would see that. Nice catch Stan!

That comes from mining custom, the law of pedis possessio, Section 5 of the 1872 Mining Act and several Supreme Court decisions.

The basic premise is that if someone is already working the land you can not peaceably enter and discover minerals. This goes back thousands of years in mining customs worldwide as well as being observed to this day by the courts of the United States as well as State courts.

Here's the applicable excerpt from the 1872 Mining Act:

"Upon a failure to comply with these conditions, the claim or mine upon which such failure occurred shall be open to relocation in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made: Provided, That the original locators, their heirs, assigns, or legal representatives, have not resumed work upon the claim after such failure and before such location."

The 30 days is not a hard rule but several important court decisions have used the 30 day rule as a reasonable time to comply with the location laws.

This is one of several provisions in Federal law to prevent claim "jumping" - the practice of stealing claims through some minor error by the locator.

Some important cases that deal with this concept of possession after a claim has lapsed are:

Belk v. Meagher (1881) Supreme Court
Lawson v United States Mining Co (1907) Supreme Court
Yosemite Mining Co v Emerson (1908) Supreme Court
Tweedy v Parsons (1933)
Johnson v Ryan (1939)
Scoggin v Miller (1948)
Rasmussen Drilling v Kerr-McGee (1978)

There are probably several hundred more. I'll try to get copies of the above cases into the Land Matters Library next week.

Heavy Pans

 

[SLNugget]

Thanks for the explanation of the 30 day relocation deal, Barry.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Thanks for the explanation of the 30 day relocation deal, Barry.

You are welcome Stan. Your thirst for knowledge is encouraging don't hesitate to ask more.

Been out of the country for the last few days so I'm just getting caught up. More soon!

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Mining Clams Maps updated to November 15th 2015

The Land Matters Claims Maps were updated late last night.

Not a lot of changes for most States this time but Idaho claims were closed to the tune of nearly 29,000 acres! That's a whole bunch of open ground.

Check out your favorite prospecting area and see if there have been changes.

Land Matters updates their Active Claims Maps twice a month. We serve up thousands of maps a day so there are a lot of prospectors looking for open ground. Get them while they are hot.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

How many small miners are there?

There are about 380,000 mining claims in the western mining states.

Out of those 380,000 mining claim there are about 19,236 that are declared as small miners not subject to maintenance fees.

A little more than 5% of claimants are small miners.

Here's a chart that breaks down where those 19,236 small miners are by State and claim type.



Heavy Pans

 

[KevinInColorado]

Fascinating. I never would have guessed there were so many small scale lode miners...

 

[Jeff95531]

My three favorite states are the top three. Maybe I should hit the road again.

 

[Jeff95531]

Fascinating. I never would have guessed there were so many small scale lode miners...

You're right Kevin. And lode over placer in all but CA and OR. Hmm

 

[goldenIrishman]

goldenI,
Just signed up for your Land Matters Claims Advantage membership.
Looking forward to learning more and possibly help a friend find his own ground.

That's Clays' site not mine! I just helped beta test it and have been promoting it as much as possible is all...

 

[Clay Diggins]

Mining Claims not yet updated at BLM

The beginning of the Federal mining year is September 1st of each year. That's the date all mining claims owners need to have either paid a maintenance fee or filed a small miners waiver. If they don't meet the deadline or submit all the proper fees and forms their claims will be marked CLOSED in the BLM case files.

Even though the final date is September 1st the BLM takes a lot of time updating their records. Generally most claimants that didn't file anything will be closed by January but the Small Miners claims are often not updated until the following year beginning in January.

This is the time of year to watch for good mining lands to open up to claim. The closures dribble in in chunks throughout these months. Each BLM State Office sets their own priorities and deadlines internally so some States get their claims updated quickly - others take forever. This year Utah completed updating virtually all of their claims files in September yet California traditionally runs nearly a year behind.

At Land Matters we track the progress on these claims updates. The most recent closures are reported to Claims Advantage members twice monthly. Those member get an interactive list of of the recently closed claims listed by state. It's not possible to get this list from the LR2000 because all closed claims actions are backdated to their effective date, usually September 1st.

Here is a look at how many claims have not updated to 2016 in the BLM databases and have not been closed. These claims are the ones that might still be closed by the BLM but have yet to be determined. Many of these claims are Small Miners status that won't be settled out until January or February of next year, many are in adjudication and many are claims the BLM State office just hasn't gotten around to updating.

This chart is from November 1st. There hasn't been a lot of change in those numbers with the exception of Idaho. As Claims Advantage members know Idaho has since CLOSED 1,474 claims, opening up another 29,000 acres of land to claiming.



Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

How many mining claims are there?

Here's another eye opener. Compare this chart of the total Western States BLM claims to the small miners chart above. Chart data is current as of November 15, 2015.

Notice anything?



You have now seen the Elephant.

Heavy Pans

 

[goldenIrishman]

Granted this is PRE-COFFEE but it looks to me like commercial lode mining is alive and well. Does this reflect all claims (Like Sand and gravel) or is it strictly for gold claims?

 

[Clay Diggins]

Granted this is PRE-COFFEE but it looks to me like commercial lode mining is alive and well. Does this reflect all claims (Like Sand and gravel) or is it strictly for gold claims?

Commercial lode mining represents more than 98% of the valuable minerals mined in the United States. Lode mines have always been the most productive type of mining.

Only a small percentage of mining claims are made for gold deposits. Look over your cell phone and consider what metals it's composed of. Now imagine how many different deposits had to be mined to create that phone. Did you see any gold in there? Probably not - it's there but such a small part of the phone that it is only a small percentage of all the metal. Gold is rare, it's used very sparingly compared to almost all other minerals. Gold mines get a lot of attention but humans need a lot more tin, lead, aluminum, copper, iron and bismuth than gold.

There are only lode claims made under the Mining Acts on the chart. Mining claims can not be made for common materials like sand and gravel. Those sand and gravel deposits can sometimes be leased from the government but they are not mining claims.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Number of acres of Mining Claims by State.

Ever wonder how much land is under claim? Here's a breakdown, in acres, by State and claim type.

To put things in perspective:

Nevada is about 40 million acres in size (39,804,120 acres). The total of mining claims there represents about 10% of that area.

California is about 60 million acres (58,930,560 acres). The total of mining claims there represents about 1.25% of that area.



I'll be out of the country for the next few days so I'd like to wish all prospectors and miners a Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll have some interesting stuff to post here after Thursday. Lots more coming!

Heavy Pans

 

[KevinInColorado]

Thanks for all you do Barry, safe travels and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[goldenIrishman]

Safe travels Sensi Clay! Give Ruby a hug from me and Jan and thanks for all you've shown me in the last year! It's paying off and we will soon have a claim in a really good area between Bullhead City and Oatman.