Ever wonder what the actual laws are for claimjumping

[mulletator]

In the days fo the gold rush claimjumping was a serious offense. You could be hanged, shot or banished.

The laws have changed slightly but you sure don't want to be a claimjumper today either.


https://www.westcoastplacer.com/modern-laws-for-claimjumping/

 

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[Goldwasher]

it's called Highgrading when it's taking minerals from a claim.

Claimjumping is the taking of the claim via overfiling

 

[mulletator]

Goldwasher you are correct. In the old terminology, high-grading was stealing ore from a mine. Claimjumping referred to the actual taking or squatting of the claim.

Today the two are grouped together in common speech. Neither term is listed on any laws anymore, at least in Canada and the US states that I have been able to investigate.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Goldwasher you are correct. In the old terminology, high-grading was stealing ore from a mine. Claimjumping referred to the actual taking or squatting of the claim.

Today the two are grouped together in common speech. Neither term is listed on any laws anymore, at least in Canada and the US states that I have been able to investigate.

Mulletator, your signature was edited out because it violated our rules, blogs are allowed but can not offer any thing for sale or allow replys, yours offered services for sale.

 

[Goldwasher]

Goldwasher you are correct. In the old terminology, high-grading was stealing ore from a mine. Claimjumping referred to the actual taking or squatting of the claim.

Today the two are grouped together in common speech. Neither term is listed on any laws anymore, at least in Canada and the US states that I have been able to investigate.

High grading is called mineral trespass.

Claim jumping if it ends up in court will result in invalidation of the junior claimant(top filer)

With mineral trespass charges if they explored or mined and removed minerals.

Depending on the situation there could be attempted mineral trespass. vandalism and other theft charges.

The only reason they are "grouped together in common speech"

Would be when someone uses the term incorrectly. Because they are different acts. That hasn't changed.

 

[mulletator]

Goldwasher, things are a little different here in Canada. There might be a difference in semantics where you are.

Although from what I can tell any time someone mines on a claim that doesn't belong to them it's called "claimjumping". I'm not saying you're wrong, that's just what people call it.

 

[russau]

Mineral trespass , if I'm not mistaken, is a Federal Crime ! And I don't think the local police will bother getting involved with it so I have read !

 

[Clay Diggins]

In the U.S.

Mineral trespass is a federal crime when the minerals are taken from federal lands when the trespasser does not have a right to the federally administered minerals. Officially that crime is termed "Mineral Material Trespass".

Mineral trespass is a State crime when minerals are taken from privately owned minerals - including valid mining claims.

In all cases taking minerals without the permission of the owner of the minerals is theft.

Some states distinguish between "innocent" mineral trespass and intentional mineral trespass with different penalties for each class. In both cases the value of the minerals taken are the damages.

Taking other peoples stuff is illegal no matter what you call it.

The courts understand the difference between taking minerals from a mining claim (mineral trespass) and taking a mining claim or any other claimed right by resorting to legal arguments (claim jumping). There are many very recent cases that use those terms in just the same way they were used 100 years ago. In the courts the use of the term "claim jumping" has been extended from being just a mining term to include any attempt to take another's claimed right.

Highgrading and Claimjumping are both mining terms used by miners to this day in and out of court. The fact that some individuals and cultures confuse the two terms doesn't change their meaning.

A stoat is a weasel.

A Kleenex is a facial tissue.

A Fridge is a refrigerator.

It all depends on your culture what you call a thing but using different words doesn't change what the thing is.

Language - slippery stuff.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

I'm not going to say I know anything much about Canadian mining law but it's clear from the legal literature that the Canadian law recognizes the concept of "claim-jumping".

mulletator I would suggest you look through your copy of Barton's Canadian Law of Mining.

On page 303 he states:

As well, the legal regimes establish dispute resolution mechanisms, whereby complaints between free miners about the staking process are to be resolved by the mineral recorder’s office. In BC, disputes are taken to the Gold Commissioner; in the Yukon and NWT, the Canada Mining Regulations require that a dispute be heard before the Chief Mining Recorder. Claim jumpers, those who seek to assert that their claims prevail over those of others, are vilified by the industry, and claim-jumping is generally an ill-perceived course of action.

Heavy Pans

 

[mulletator]

Hi Clay Diggins, I appreciate the input. I've actually been trying to find a copy of that book for some time. Do you have a copy? If you could send me pictures of the pages regarding cliamjumping that would be awesome.

I mentioned some of the US laws in the article. They are different for sure. The spirt is the same but the terminology and the ways that the laws are structured are quite different, as is the legal system in Canada.

FYI, I asked the BC Gold Commissioner about the laws and consulted him prior to the article.

 

[Clay Diggins]

You can get the most recent version (2019) of "Canadian Law of Mining" from LexisNexus for only $350.

It's sad that the law is so expensive. I guess if you are a mining lawyer it's just part of the cost of doing business.

All this stuff is based on the customs of miners which go back thousands of years long before there were mining lawyers. Yet they still managed to get ore from the earth and refine it even without lawyers. Go figure.

Heavy Pans

 

[mulletator]

I've seen the book in the $300 range. That's a bit more than I want to spend. I'm trying to find a used copy in the $50 range. No luck so far.

It does sound like a good read.

 

[Clay Diggins]

I've seen the book in the $300 range. That's a bit more than I want to spend. I'm trying to find a used copy in the $50 range. No luck so far.

It does sound like a good read.

Like most of this stuff it's boring as heck.

Lawyers interpret the law, write books, sell them as if they are precious gems, then other lawyers buy the book, quote the lawyer/writer's opinion as proof of what the law means to Judges who are lawyers. It's a big closed circle. In the military that is usually described as a cluster something or other.

Try your local court's law library. They often have this stuff cause Judges (lawyers) can get the book for free from the law library. You just have to learn where you can dip into the circle in your area to find these things.

Heavy Pans

 

[gold tramp]

Highgrader when you dont catch them.
Dirty claim jumper when you catch them in the act...
Gt.....