Bejay gave you good advice. The BLM LR2000 can only give you hints as to the land status. The LR2000 is very slow to update and has many mistakes. Claims are not made at the BLM so using their information as your only source to make a claim is futile. The BLM will take claims filings and money from anyone, no matter how many claims are already located in the same spot. The BLM does not map claims nor do they make decisions on what is a valid claim.
Also please be aware that the geocommunicator and the LR2000 are unrelated. The geocommunicator is an online map system that does not have claims information. The LR2000 is an online database that does not have maps.
Here is an illustrated tutorial to help you use the LR2000.
Demystifying the LR2000
Just knowing there was once a claim somewhere does NOT mean:
1. The claim was for gold.
2. If the claim was for gold that any gold was actually present.
3. That the area is unclaimed today.
4. That the area can be claimed.
A better approach would be to:
1. Research to find an area that might have good gold.
2. Find out if the area is open to making claim locations. Some areas are closed to claiming. Private lands are generally not claimable.
3. Find out if there are claims already there. (LR2000 and then a trip to the County Recorder)
4. Investigate the area on the ground for evidence of new claims.
5. Prospect any open ground found for valuable mineral deposits.
6. Make a claim if there is gold on land open to claim OR start over with step one in a new area.
Just because areas have been claimed does not mean they are worth working for gold. Besides the fact that most successful claims are not made for gold (there are lots of other minerals that can be claimed) there is also the problem of claims being made on worthless ground. In my experience the majority of current and past claims aren't located on paying ground.
To find a good paying claim is never a simple matter of just claiming where another claim was closed. Prospecting is hard work. The research on geology, mineralogy, land status and claim status is just as important to prospecting success as learning to use a sluice or a trommel.
Buying a claim or making a paper claim (always illegal) almost always ends badly. Do the research and find a good paying area open to claim. Do the boots on the ground work and come away with a real understanding of the process of prospecting - and a good claim. There are no shortcuts.
Heavy Pans