Assesment work...how do you value your labor?

[mofugly13]

The assessment work on my claims mainly involves clearing trails and roads of deadfalls, poison oak, rockslides etc...

What labor rates do you assign to yourself if you are performing the assessment work on your claim. Do you use what you would pay the neighbor kid to do similar work? Do you use something closer to what you earn at your 'regular' job? What about those of you who's regular job is the actual mining of gold?

At my 'regular' job labor rate, I could complete my assessment requirement, per claim, in under two hours. But typically my assessment work per claim takes 3-4 hours per, sometimes a lot more depending on the nature of the trail/road clearing. Curious to know how you all value your labor.

 

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[Goldwasher]

No less than fifteen dollars an hour. Road trail work is an almost constant. Don't forget sampling,stripping, exploration all count towards labor. We fill our minimum in on day easy. it would be nice to get a credit for the hundreds of hours over the minimum

 

[winners58]

last year I just used the form 3830-004 BLM NOC Forms I just put a flat amount
road and trail maintenance /value of work performed $200
Trash and human waste removal from other forest users /value of work performed $200
sampling, fill in holes left from previous claimant / restoration /value of work performed $100
removed dry grass from areas cars would park / fire prevention /value of work performed $40

 

[mikep691]

Don't forget lead and mercury removal...

 

[jere64ca]

I do basically the same as winners58.

Has anyone ever had there assessment work challenged? Like the wrong type of work or cost? I do not know a single person that has ever had to correct an assessment challenge.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Many people have had to pay the maintenance fee when their work assessment was refused. Once challenged the choice is to appeal or pay the annual fee.

Only those things that tend to benefit your claim are allowed. Trash cleanup is one of the disallowed items. Trash cleanup is not claim improvement. Remember the claim is for the valuable minerals so your labor has to go towards that goal of accessing, discovering or mining valuable minerals. Clearing a trail or removing brush or overburden from a site dig, as well as digging samples, tunnels and adits are all improvement labor, sampling and processing are not.

Back in the 80's and 90's it was common for the BLM to inspect small miners claims to see if actual work had been done. This was done only by some offices and from what I saw it was done where they considered the claim or claim owner to be a nuisance. A certain State comes to mind.

The BLM could inspect for work today but they don't really do much fieldwork anymore. That's a different story for a different thread. Just be aware that you don't want to get caught lying when you make your work declaration.

I sometimes have suggested that small miners keep their work affidavit simple but be ready with ample proof of labor should you ever be challenged. Something as simple as "access maintenance" with a simple dollar amount for the labor value should be good enough as long as you are prepared to back that up with documents and on site evidence. The simpler your affidavit the easier to prove your labor declaration. You don't need to give a price breakdown, wages or dates on your affidavit but you should be able to produce those things if you are challenged.

As a claim owner you should keep a diary of all your claim visits, work performed, minerals discovered along with location and description, visitors whether invited or not, materials/fuel used on site. Such a diary not only covers your filings with the BLM but they help establish where your minerals are located and improve the value of your claim on the market.

Here are just a few examples of what is and what isn't labor that can be used towards your annual requirement.

Examples of Work That Qualify As Assessment Work

A building that benefits and improves the claim. Bryan V. McCraig, 10 Colo 309, 15 P 413 (1887).
Reasonable value of meals to miners who receive board in addition to salary. Fredricks v. Klauser, 52 Or 110; 96 P 679 (1908).
Value of blasting supplies. Id.
Construction of road to mining claim. U.S. v. 9,947.71 Acres of land, More or less, in Clark County, State of Nev., 220 F. Supp. 328 (DC Nev 1963); Silliman v. Powell, Utah 642 P2d 388, 393 (1982).
Maintenance of access roads to mining claim. Pinkerton v. Moore, 66 NM 11, 340 P2d 844 (1959).
Sinking shafts and running tunnels or drifts. James v. Krook, 42 Ariz 322 (1933).
Installation of mining machinery or fixtures. Id.
Employment of a watchman when necessary to protect structures or property used in developing a claim. Ingersolt v. Scott, 13 Ariz 165, 108 P 460 (1910).
Drilling and removal of samples from a mining claim. Eveleigh v. Darneille, 81 Cal Reptr 301 (Cal App 1969).

Access Roads and Qualifies

The construction of access roads as well as improvement of existing access roads qualifies as assessment work, even though the road is not on the claims. For example, the cost of installation of water bars on an existing road to prevent erosion and reduce the need to rehabilitate or maintain the road is sufficient improvement to qualify as assessment work. United States v Herr, 130 IBLA 349, 365-65 (1994).

Examples of Work or Improvements That Do Not Qualify As Annual Labor on a Mining Claim

Removal of water from a mine for inspection of prospective buyer. Evalina Gold Mining Co. v. Yosemite Gold Mine Co., 15 Cal App 714, 115 P 946 (1911).
Erection of a house outside the boundaries of a claim for the shelter of miners. Remington v. Baudit, 6 Mont 138, 9 P 819 (1886).
Eating utensils, groceries, and bedding. Fredricks v. Klauser, 52 Or 110, 96 P 679 (1908).
Amount paid for horses used in development work; however value of their use will qualify. Id.
Payment for iron rails or tools, but their value in developing the mine may qualify. Id.
Material taken to a claim but not used. Id.
Sampling and assaying. Bishop v. Baisley, 28 Or 119, 41 P936 (1895).
Reconnaissance surveys of mining claims. Pinkerton v. Moore, 66 NM 11, 340 P2d 844 (1959).
Use of a claim to deposit wastes from other claims and building a flume to carry tailings to claim. Jackson v. Roby, 109 US 440 (1883).
Employment of a watchman to prevent relocation. Justice Mining Co. v. Barclay, 82 F 554 (CC Nev 1897); or where there is no valuable improvement or machinery to protect. James v. Krook, 42 Ariz 322, 25 P2d 1026 (1933).

Those aren't the only things that qualify but they will give an idea of the types of work that are allowed.

$100 labor isn't very much work to keep a claim. Doing that work, keeping records, doing your annual County Record and $10 BLM filing is a pretty good deal for a miner. Claim improvement benefits the claim owner more than anyone else. ... Or you could just pay the $155 - $1,240 fee per claim and make your County Recording and BLM filing.

Heavy Pans

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Any activities on federally managed land that you describe in writing, could potentially be used against you later.
I would be careful that you are describing activities that are lawful and are consistent with any permits or plans of operation.

For example road, trail maintenance, reduction of forest fuels used to be viewed in a positive light. Now they want the roads and trails to return to nature and disappear.

 

[jere64ca]

Clay,,,,, thank you for the time to write the "most informative post of the day"!!! 100% correct and you win,,,, the prize check is in the mail.

 

[mikep691]

This likely has been asked in the past, but I didn't see it in the "Qualifies..." list, Does the payment of property taxes count toward the assessment?

 

[Goldwasher]

No it doesnt

 

[mikep691]

No it doesnt

Just curious, why not if the fee to BLM counts, why wouldn't the real tax count as well? After all, it's filed in the County where it matters most.

 

[Goldwasher]

Cause a tax is a portion of value. Assesment is based on work put in. The other one that counts is a maintenance fee... I guess tour letting the blm know your basically not doing a damn thing with your claim.
I think they like that a lot and will gladly take your money. They also don't want to spend too much time ,going out to see if you cut brush on your trail replace the signs that fade and are vandalized. Little time to actually check and see if you put work into your claim.

 

[bug]

Any activities on federally managed land that you describe in writing, could potentially be used against you later.
I would be careful that you are describing activities that are lawful and are consistent with any permits or plans of operation.

For example road, trail maintenance, reduction of forest fuels used to be viewed in a positive light. Now they want the roads and trails to return to nature and disappear.

You are absolutely right. These days I would be cautious about any declarations of trail or road work

 

[jere64ca]

As Clay stated, keep the description simple, go re-read his post it is dead on.

I have never heard of an incident when BLM has questioned the assessment work and never seen or heard of them going and checking to see if you actually did the work you listed on the form. Now if there is some issue that comes up that questions the validity of the claim that is a whole different situation, they will look into many paperwork and claim site conditions. Frankly, most of us do not do what is necessary to stand up to the scrutiny of a claim validity test by the BLM.