B
brad
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- #1
Thread Owner
Is it profitable to buy an existing patented claim, or try to stake out my own? 

PATENTED MINING CLAIM: A patented mining claim is one for which the Federal Government has passed its title to the claimant, making it private land. A person may mine and remove minerals from a mining claim without a mineral patent. However. a mineral patent gives the owner exclusive title to the locatable minerals. It also gives the owner title to the surface and other resources.
this means: You own the Land as well as the minerals
UNPATENTED MINING CLAIM: An Unpatented mining claim is a particular parcel of Federal land, valuable for a specific mineral deposit or deposits. It is a parcel for which an individual has asserted a right of possession. The right is restricted to the extraction and development of a mineral deposit. The rights granted by a mining claim are valid against a challenge by the United States and other claimants only after the discovery of a valuable mineral deposit.
this means: You are leasing, from the government, the right to extract minerals. No land ownership is conveyed.
Note: Since October 1, 1994 the BLM has been prohibited by Act of Congress from accepting any new mineral patent applications. The moratorium is annually renewed through the Interior Appropriations Acts. It is unknown how long this moratorium will continue.