Family association Federal mining claim question

[Oregon Viking]

There are two 120 acre claims that might be coming up for sale. They are listed as listed as Family association federal mining claims. There were 6 members/owners. The claims are within the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest. I can not find much info on this subject. Can there be only one owner? It is on the South fork of the Chetco river, which is a wild and scenic area.
That brings up another question, what are the rules on prospecting/mining in a wild and scenic area? This question is for the Chetco river not the South fork Chetco. There was a mineral withdrawl that was not renewed for the Chetco.
Thanks in advance.

 

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[Hoser John]

Hit your local County Recorders office as WAS means there must be multiple quit claims filed in county and BLM mandatory with tight time constraints. Both are mandatory to find the trail of ownership. Looked in BLM manual here and no such animal as a FAMILY classification listed at this time. Just a family that all loved to mine at one time I guess. Lots of luck as claim buying-and not getting ripped off-is a dying art. Rules differ state by state so my calif manual not good for Oregon. The open/closed/designation changes in January and july are the norm same as calif usually as nothing in concrete anymore as EMERGENCY and PROMULGATION and the newest &^%$#@ on the block SEGREGATION are in play. Lots of luck and tons a au 2 u 2-John PS-read DEQ permit thread in dredge forum as a few links to the folks who have your needed info as the moratouium continues .....sic sic sic copy of calif purgatory.

 

[Goldwasher]

pretty sure the federal rule says you have to have an examination/prove the claim to transfer from an associated location to a single individual. You have to prove all the acreage is gold bearing and adjust accordingly.

I don't know why Barry has been MIA but he would have the correct answer.

 

[mikep691]

Pretty sure you need a quit claim deed from each claimant for each association claim, then the 20 acre per person rule comes into play. You would need to have six associates in order to keep the claim intact, or reduce the acreage to reflect the new number of associates. So if it's just one purchaser, then the claim has to be reduced from 120 acres to 20 acres. I'm not sure what the time frame is for this reduction though.

As far as wild and scenic area mining, you can have claims in these areas (unless they have been remove from mineral entry), but there can be no motorized equipment used.

 

[winners58]

the south fork is not W&S, on the main chetco the W&S part is not open to location but only the wild section is hands & pans
If you can get a state permit the "scenic" and "recreational" W&S sections can be worked https://www.rivers.gov/rivers/chetco.php
no dredging in the state designated "scenic river" section it begins at the Steel Bridge within the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest
and ends at Alfred A. Loeb State Park https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/NATRES/scenicwaterways/Pages/waterways.aspx#22._Chetco_River
the main chetco is under a temporary withdrawal until 2018 the only claims left are NWMP club claims the other 9 claims Dave Rutan wanted to mine
the environmentalist waterboard came across the border and got everyone worked up, he couldn't get a PoO approved he had them for sale
I talked to him on the phone he would have sold them for 500 each at the time I wish could have saved them or he would have at least given them away.
it may never be open to location again. not sure if the south fork is known for gold you may have a hard time if they are transferred to one owner.
it would require a statement that there is gold on the claim worth mining, sampling, old records, other profitable mines on the same stream
if you satisfy them with your statement they will send you a letter saying a mineral exam is not needed at this time and ok just one signer.
the other possibilities would be they make you shrink it to 20 acres or you could refile with 6 locators or 6 individual claims.
given the area with all the environuts it would be better just to find 5 friends or family to be signers.

 

[Reed Lukens]

I would ask them some questions because if their claim pre-dates the w/s designation and they have a Federal POO for different types of mining, dredging, whatever... You should be able to use any equipment listed in the POO.