Annual Mining Claims Filings

[Clay Diggins]

As she does every year Ruby has prepared a flow chart and list of guidelines to make your annual mining claims filings easier.

Remember your annual BLM Assessment or Waiver Certification filing is due by August 30 in the BLM State office. If you miss the deadline your claim will be declared abandoned.

Follow the Flow Chart pdf to see what actions you need to take and check the Guidelines pdf to get the list of State offices and answers to your questions.

Heavy Pans

 

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[spillercanyon]

Thanks Clay!!! Can't make it any easier than that! I'm going to get right on it.

 

[mu50stang]

Thanks for the great info Clay. I have a question. I filed a 2014 waiver and was wondering after I file the 2014 Affidavit of Assessment work to the County and the 2015 Affidavit of Assessment Blm, do I still need to file a notice of intent to hold. Thanks.

 

[Clay Diggins]

There are only three cases where you are required to file a Notice of Intent to Hold.

You are eligible for small miner's and have submitted an Assessment Waiver Certification.

AND

1. You are somehow prevented from performing labor on your claim under one of the labor exemptions. (landlocked, under private challenge adjudication, Court order, FPO active duty military service exemption etc.)

OR

2. It's a Millsite or Tunnel Site claim. (No labor required)

OR

3. It's your first year of small miner's waiver.

If you have performed your annual labor by the State deadline and you have a small miner's waiver you just need to record (at the county) and file (at the BLM) your Affidavit of Annual Labor and you are good to go.

The key thing to understand is that the County Recorder has to receive a claims recording and the BLM has to receive a filing each year you hold the claim. Which recording and which filing you make depends on your circumstance.

If you are paying the Maintenance Fee Assessment you still need to make a public record of your intent to hold your claims with the County Recorder in the County the claims are located in.

Many miners record a copy of their Maintenance Fee Assessment with the County Recorder and that does suffice for your annual record but I suggest if you choose that method instead of a traditional Intent to Hold you add a cover sheet that states that this is your record of your intent to hold the claim. County Recorders need a title to the recording so they know which category to put your record in. If you don't title your annual public record "Notice of Intent to Hold Mining Claim(s)" it might be difficult for prospectors to find your annual public notice in the County Records.

Heavy Pans

 

[mu50stang]

Thanks Clay. On the flow chart it shows 2014 Affidavit for the county recorder and 2015 for the BLM. Is this correct or should they both be 2014 or both be 2015.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Thanks Clay. On the flow chart it shows 2014 Affidavit for the county recorder and 2015 for the BLM. Is this correct or should they both be 2014 or both be 2015.

The chart is correct but can be confusing.

In Arizona our (2015) recording year begins on January 1st (2015) but the Federal mining claims year (2015) begins on the prior September 1st (2014). So in Arizona your State recording deadline for the 2015 Federal labor year is in 2015.

If it was your first year filing small miner's last Federal year 2015 (September 1st 2014) you needed to record (county) a notice of intent to hold in the 2014 recording year (State) and file that with the BLM State office by December 30, 2014. That completed your federal and state filing and recording obligations for calendar and federal year 2014.

This year (calendar year 2015) you need to complete your annual labor requirement and record your Affidavit of Labor by December 31, 2015 and make your annual filing with the BLM State office by December 30, 2015.

Confused yet?

Remember that you make your small miners waiver certification for the coming Federal mining year. So when you submit your waiver by August 31st 2015 that waiver is for the 2016 mining year even though you are submitting it 4 months before the end of the 2015 calendar year. The labor you performed was in the year before (2015) the current federal year (2016). You can't swear that you performed labor for the calendar year before it starts so your labor is always a year behind the Federal year.

To make matters worse the situation changes depending on which State your claims are in. I think in California the State recording year for claims begins 30 days after the Federal year* so your recording deadline with the County would be October 1st instead of December 31st.

The Federal filing deadlines don't change - it's always August 31 for submitting your small miner's waiver or paying your Maintenance Fee Assessment and December 30 for the Notice of Intent to Hold or the Affidavit of Labor - whichever applies.

You can trust the chart even if my explanation confuses you. I wish the States and Fed would agree to start and end their years on New Years Day instead of August 31, September 1, September 31, October 1, December 30, December 31 and January 1 but it just ain't gonna happen.

Heavy Pans

* Don't quote me on that, it's just what I recall you will need to look up each State's requirements for their claims recording year.

 

[Hoser John]

In a bureauratz world composed of quicksand you NEVER really know as they change rules/regs on a whim. Just remember a few years back when"Golly gee wiz", you already filed ,paid your due but NOW we want even more...sooooo to not trust is the only smart way--John