The date at the county recorders office is all that matters.
Just my two cents...
You are wrong MadMarshall.
Claims are located on the ground. First to stake and monument is the senior locator. The date on the paperwork isn't proof of anything.
I always encourage locators to take a witness with you and take photographs when you stake your claim. The facts on the ground are what matter and being able to prove you were first on the ground beats paperwork every time. If you can't prove you staked and monumented your claim you leave yourself in a very weak position. Recording the claim at the County is just a legal formality and making that record doesn't locate a claim.
Paper claims are a problem but an even bigger problem is amateur miners deciding other peoples claims aren't valid with weak excuses like "it's just a paper claim". If a man stakes their claim on the ground before another man does there is a legal assumption that the claim is valid until proven otherwise in court. Unless an adverse claimant or wandering prospector is actively suing in court any effort they make to work that location is mineral trespass - a crime of theft.
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HMiller - If you can prove you located a claim on the ground before others did your claim is valid (assuming you make your filings timely) against any other locator or prospector. Courts are available to settle disputes between locators. The simple fact of someone else recording papers in the County or filing with the BLM does not change the senior status of your location.
Frankly if you want to maintain a claim in a popular location you will need to get used to the idea that there will be overclaimers. The most productive approach is to learn to communicate with these adverse claimants and trespassing prospectors. Challenge each trespasser directly and firmly on paper to establish a paper trail that you have put them on notice of your senior claim. It's important to address this on a personal basis before taking anything to a court. Most overclaimers will move on when you put them on notice you are aware of them and you will not stand for their trespass. Most overclaimers do so by accident, it's quite possible your overclaimer didn't know you had already located. So called "prospectors" who think your claim is fair game because of some imagined defect are another story. A 15 minute notice of their trespass and then a call to the Sheriff if they don't leave and stay away will do the trick.
Don't get too wrapped up in whats on the LR2000. The BLM doesn't keep official claims records and they are notoriously bad at updating their records. Even a court decision might take a year or more to show up on the LR2000. The BLM is not your buddy, your boss or your lawyer. The BLM was right about one thing - they don't decide or care who has a senior claim. Suppose you win a court case against a Junior locator (overclaimer). There is nothing to keep the loser from walking into the BLM to file a new overclaim the following day.
The facts on the ground matter a lot. It's your duty to maintain and occupy your claim. Beyond the annual paperwork you need to maintain good signage with notice. If you see an overclaim in the County or LR2000 make a visit to your claim, with a witness and a camera, and check all your corner stakes, notices and monument. Take pictures and replace any missing stakes or notices. Make sure you have posted notice in areas that would be used to access the claim. If the overclaimer even bothered to stake or monument their overclaim remove those adverse stakes and monuments. Keep a record of every visit you make to your claim and note the condition of the claim and it's markers.
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In my experience the biggest problems in mining claim locations today are the constant paper claiming by a few claims flippers and uneducated locators and the even bigger issue of prospectors trespassing. Thousands of "prospectors" each day work valid claims that aren't theirs with weak weasel word excuses about improper paperwork, I didn't see a marker, unworked claims aren't valid, or at least in one case the belief that club claims aren't valid. If it's already claimed do the right thing and just move on to open ground - no matter what your opinion about the claim.
Notice I didn't include government intrusion on that list. Although the BLM and Forest Service can be a problem they don't even come close to the problems that prospectors create all on their own.
Learn the mining laws so you won't make this process any more confusing than it already is. Never buy a paper claim - do the work yourself or take up something easier like bowling or raising chickens. And above all... Please respect your fellow prospector's claims.
Heavy Pans
