Mining Claim Question

[mayankratom]

I bought a gold mine in California. It was on ebay. Its about 21-22 acres. Somewhere around there. The name is the Cargo Mines. One mine shaft alone is 650 feet deep and there are probably 12 shafts that all go straight down. The seller claimed I was getting the land, mineral and water rights, etc. Upon paying for it I found out I was only a partial owner. There were also 2 very low percentage owners I knew nothing about and obviously neither did he. But I do own a very large controlling share. My question is how do you tell if the land is a patented or unpatented claim from the orig deed? The deed does say the word patent making me assume that it is. Its written in really old language though and actually signed over by a former President of the US. Does anybody know how to read Deeds? I would love some help with this. I can't afford to dump more money into it paying for a title company to go over it. Also trying to figure out how to make money off of the land. Considered renting it out to a person that wanted to mine it. This was a very high production gold mine all the way back from the 1800s Just google cargo mines in California. There are tons of websites about it and some professional explorers actually have a website where they explored it and took hundreds of pictures. I do have to pay taxes on the land. Does an unpatented piece of land require taxes to be paid in California? Any help would be awesome. I can prob even upload the old deeds for you guys if somebody really knows how to read them. Underground Explorers:  Cargo Mine Pictures (January 2010) Underground Explorers:  Cargo Mine Pictures (January 2010) btw these are the links with lots of pictures of my land from the explorers.

 

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[mayankratom]

It took the professional explorers over 13 hours to go all the way down and come back up from my 650 foot mine. There are alot more as well that they don't even know about. I had a lengthy conversation with them on the phone and have exchanged many emails.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

I know there is a room in that mine that was closed off after it was discovered, It was full of unstable explosives.Be careful, I used to live close to the area and that desert was my playground. added some more pics of that area.

 

[Clay Diggins]

I deal with thousands of patents and mining claims each year.

The papers you have posted are a copy of a mineral patent. Mineral patents once granted by the government become private property.

Unfortunately I have bad news about your purchase. Anybody can download a copy of that patent, or more than 5 million other patents granted, from the Government Land Office online. You could order an original certified copy from the GLO yourself. It's more that the people you purchased your papers from did but it still wouldn't amount to title to land.

Sadly you would have to have the original patent, the mineral survey (official map) and originals of all of the successions and assigns that form the full patent before you could prove any ownership in the property. Your paperwork amounts to nothing more that what anyone could download from the internet in a few minutes.

I would strongly suggest you begin the process of trying to get your money back from the sellers. eBay has a process for this. I'm pretty sure the California Attorney General would like to know the specifics of your purchase also. Time is of the essence in these matters.

I would be careful about what you read on the internet. I know nothing of your purchase nor have I seen the eBay ad you relied on but with the information you have shared here I wouldn't be surprised if the initials GRE might mean something to you? If you would like to understand more about the papers you have feel free to contact me by PM.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

I have a question for you, have you ever been to the mine?The reason I ask is I'm pretty sure if I remember right it is a State Historical landmark so not sure it would be for sale.I don't know if the State would open up a landmark to mining.

 

[mayankratom]

We are listed with the county in the clerks recorders office as the official owners. The tax accessors office, etc. The only other problem is I was supposed to be the only owner but from what the gov offices tell me their are actually 2 other owners. I am only the 78% owner. All of the land surrounding me is all national park land. I spoke with the BLM at several times and even spent several hours with them in their office. They want to buy it back from me. They are in the process of making an offer for it to me now. They can't believe that I am one of the only pieces of acreage that is privately owned. They did verify that I do own it as well though.

 

[mayankratom]

These 3 pictures literally look like they were taken on my property. Are you familiar with the exact same mine then? I did notice that there was one very odd mine on my property. It was at the bottom of a hill and not sealed the conventional way like the blm normally does it. It was sealed with very small rocks and somebody worked very hard to place them in the entrance very neatly. It was also quite large from what I can guess. All most all of my other mines are wide open. Anybody could literally fall in some of them and a few have small unlocked fences or barb wire around them. Still very dangerous. I need to get it out of my name and get it listed with a corp as the owner soon just in case somebody does trespass and gets hurt or killed out there.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Those 3 pics were taken there years ago.

 

[mayankratom]

Those 3 pics were taken there years ago.

do you remember the area though? Have you ever seen the actual Cargo Mines? Anything cool you can tell me about it I would love it! I found at the top of a cliff what I thought was 2 huge swimming pools. They need a small amount of repair but will be like brand new for prob $200 in cement. I talked to the BLM about them. They told me that these were used to store chemicals and water for the miners. But they sure will make awesome swimming pools. I can't wait to go back to the land in October. I plan to camp there for about 3 months before the weather gets too hot again. Can't freaking wait! If any other metal detecting friends or mine explorers want to come up and visit I would love to hang out and metal detect with you on it. If you know anybody that might want to share proceeds in a gold mine I would be willing to work out a deal with a company. I know there is a ton of gold on the property and this is alot of land. Always open for options.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Don't know anything on your mines or property except about the closed off room not sure where it is in the mine though. I played in the dunes and prospected over towards Blythe and up Banner and Julian, was raised in Julian so most of what I remember was relayed to me from family as we had a mine over in Ranchita although back when I was a kid I was more interested in other things than I am now.My Uncle knew I screwed around in some of the old mines in the area so he let me know about the room in your mine. Sadly anything else he knew about your mine is lost as he has passed away.That is the problem with most of the old timers being gone, the knowledge of these older mines is gone.

 

[cudamark]

Just be careful exploring those mines. Rotten timbers and bad air have killed many who are unprepared. I'd have a mine expert inspect the shafts and air quality before I did any serious hunting.