Crazy claim question

[Nuggetbrain]

Ok please bear with me. I sometimes get crazy questions in my brain and I just have to find the answer.

From what I understand about filing a claim, an individual can claim 20 acres and an "association" can claim 160 acres. Now I realize there is paperwork, fees rules, etc. but basically
that's it yes?

My question is, what stops someone from claiming every available piece of land? I mean, say a rich guy forms a group and claims 160 acres, and then another 160 acres, and then another and another, so on and so on.
He pays the fees and has employees research the claims and just keeps claiming and claiming.

Now in the real world it would take money and time to do that, but is it possible? Maybe the law allows a corporation to only claim 160 acres, but as we all know it's not difficult to form a "different" corporation
and claim more land right?

Basically, what's to stop, or what has stopped, one person from claiming everything?

Thanks for your patience.

Tim

 

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[spaghettigold]

in many countrys you have to work and invest in them to keep them..

wait for the specialist to chime in..

 

[mofugly13]

I think the answer is.....Nothing. When I was researching the area where I made my claims. There was one spot that was claimed, but the yearly maintenance fees/work affidavit hadn't been filed on time, or at all for that matter. I was going to look into claiming this spot. Then a day before I left to head out to Sacramento BLM, I pulled up LandMatters and saw that a new claim had been already filed right on the spot of this previous claim. I looked into the previous claimants serial register and saw that he had bought the claim from the person who had staked the new clam on this same spot. SO, I decided to do a google search on the name of the new claimant. This brought me to an EBAY page, with the claim for sale yet again. Searching this sellers other listings, and past listings, revealed 7 or so claims currently for sale, from $2500-$65,000. More research 0n closed claims revealed that this is this guys MO. Claim a piece, sell it, wait for it to default, claim it again and try to sell it...ad nauseum.

For shits and grins, when I went to Sac BLM, I got a few of the location notices for this guy who is flipping claims. The larger claims (bigger than 20ac) have family members listed as co-claimants, but it is obvious that all of the signatures on the notices are from the same hand. Seems pretty shady, but other than forging signatures, legal. For more shits and grins, I keep an eye on the claims for sale on ebay. Some seem to sell, but a week or two later they are back up on ebay for sale again.

THis guy has seemed to make a tidy business out of claiming and then selling his claims at enormous profits.

 

[bobw53]

My understanding is that up until a few years ago, you needed 1 person per 20acres... Up to 160acres, and you paid one fee on the whole claim, weather
it was 20,40,60,80 etc... acres... Now they whack you per 20 acres, so a group of people that have a 160 acre claim are now paying 8x the fees per year.

The only place the multi acre claim can save you is the bit on the upfront fees, which really aren't that big anyways...

As to claiming up a bunch of stuff, where I've been digging, there is a company that owns a TON of claims... They are trying to start(re-start) a large mine, and
I understand they need the claims where they intend to mine, but they have bought up everything, all the patented lode claims,
all the homesteads(that have mineral rights), and they have piles and piles and piles of lode (and a few placer) claims miles and miles
from where they actually intend to mine.

Apparently they don't care what you do on their claims, they don't keep up the markers like they are supposed to and they don't work them... And
I've heard if you go to the guard shack and ask to play on their claims they'll just tell you to stay off the big mine... I like checking out the old
mines and occasionally a rock or 2 ends up in my pocket... So I bought stock in the company so I can always say "but I own this".... They have a ton
of claims that people have overclaimed, and I wrote them about it, and they don't care... It was actually somebody selling an e-bay claim that overlaid
one of their claims, and I never heard back from them, though that person did stop selling claims.

The only reason I can guess that some rich guy doesn't buy it all up, is that you are supposed to work the claim.. If somebody bought it all up, and
didn't leave anything for anybody else, there might be a lawsuit or three... I'm sure the State of California would love to swoop in and grab up every
claim they could...

And for the record Ted Turner can suck it, he doesn't have to find a job in this economically depressed area.

 

[SLNugget]

A corporation may only claim 20 acres per claim unless part of an association claim. Claimants may also designate an agent or give power of attorney to a single individual who would then be authorized to sign claim paperwork. So it's not necessarily forgery for one individual to sign paperwork. I personally know of a corp having 130 + claims within 10 minutes of my house. Actually, now that I think of it several different corps with over 100 claims less than 30 minutes from here.

 

[mrs.oroblanco]

Have to add my 2 cents - sorry. I've been doing this almost 40 years. A patented claim needs nothing, as far as work - they pay real estate taxes, but a patented mine is private land, no longer a mining claim, so to speak.

As far as having lots of UNpatented claims. There is a small miner's waiver, if you have less than 10 claims, you don't have to pay the big fees, but you do have to work all your claims at some point during the year, and then, come August 31st/September, you put in a waiver, and then by the end of the year, December - you have to "prove up" the work you have done each year. Anything over over that amount of claims, and you will be paying $165.00 for each 20 acre or part there-of. So, if you have an unpatented claim that is 20.66 acres (which is common), you are going to pay $165.00 on the 20, and $165 on the .66, times every single claim you have. You can get away with a millsite or 2, but, that's going to be in the 5 acre category. It can get very, very expensive to have more than 10 claims. (the government's way to give it all to the rich).

1 person can claim 20 acres, 2 people 40 acres - up to 8 individuals (the max in one shot), can get 160 acres. Of course, not all owners have to prove up the claims, 1 or 2 people can do the manual labor and fill out the paperwork, and you don't need to name them the executor or administrator or anything else if they are 1 of the association claim holders. Here's a note here - having your mining club on the claim, is NOT proving up a claim. It is considered recreational, and they don't recognize any recreational claims as being a valid claim. Anything else you need to know on the process, just ask.

Mrs.O

 

[treshuntintom]

That's why it cost me $3712.00 to break my 2 160 acre claims into 20's last year.Didn't care to have 16 signatures on my claims.Hey SLNugget I live in Morristown also.