Jump to content

Recommended Posts

How often is it updated, and how accurate is the mining claim Information on land maters?

is there a better more accurate resource for checking on active claims?

 

thanks for any info!

Link to comment
Share on other sites


1 hour ago, DWF said:

How often is it updated, and how accurate is the mining claim Information on land maters?

is there a better more accurate resource for checking on active claims?

 

thanks for any info!

The BLM can be up to 90 days behind what is actually claimed. Check with BLM first. Then go to your County Clerk's office and check for claims located in the last 90 days in the area you are interested in. You have 90 days to notify BLM of your new claim.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every two weeks the BLM makes available the latest updates to its system that can be 'dumped' into 3rd party 're-publishers' who can update their systems.  That is what happens every two weeks on My Land Matters.

If you want to use the LR2000 on the BLM website it could be just a few days more current than My Land Matters.  As stated now recordings and updates are behind because of the virus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Land Matters updates claims mapping twice a month when the master public lands database is updated in Denver. The date of the most recent claims update is part of the information returned on any mining claim query so you can always know how current the information is. With two minor exceptions over the last 7 years Land Matters has updated the claims mapping twice each month and within 24 hours of the data becoming available.

The Land Matters claims maps do have a link for each claim's serial register page so you can view the most current information available for any particular claim. This feature is unique to Land Matters, other public reports just provide the static claim status at the last bi monthly update. Claims data overall changes little between the twice monthly reports but if there is a change it will be reflected on the linked serial register page.

There is no better, more current or more accurate public claims mapping than Land Matters. If that were possible Land Matters would already have changed their update methods. I don't track their updates but it appears the Diggings site is just about as current as Land Matters most of the time. Others, including the pay services, don't generally update as often or as timely.

We have good contacts in the BLM and have worked with them to get access to the daily interim database changes. That appears to be logistically (and perhaps politically?) a no go at this time but we do continue to raise this issue along with other projects we coordinate with them.

At this point the claims figures for this mining year show these BLM databases are just about as current as in past years. Land Matters will be doing a special report comparing this years claims activity to the last 7 years this fall. That will give us a better idea whether there has been any greater time lag in BLM claims data reporting than in past years as well as a bunch of other interesting metrics. My gut feeling at this point is that there has been very little change in BLM reporting in most states this year with the notable exception of California.

The BLM is fully staffed and appears to be keeping up as well as in past years. County Recorders on the other hand are cutting services drastically in some areas. This is puzzling because all of the County Recorders I have dealt with are fully funded and fully staffed with full time employees. There seems to be a new resistance in some counties to providing the public record to the public. In general I've found County Recorders in the past to be very accommodating and helpful. They are elected officials and could easily lose their jobs in the next election should their job performance appear to be lacking.

Mining claims information is never "up to date". The locator has 90 days to inform the BLM of their new location and anywhere from 30 to 90 days to make their public record at the County Recorder's. To that you need to add the processing and reporting delay.

For most County Recorder's the processing and reporting delay has averaged about two weeks in past years. The BLM on the other hand is slower to update their case files with lag times varying between 15 days and several months (in some cases years) depending on which BLM state office is reporting. Some state BLM offices like Utah and Nevada are pretty good at timely updates. In other states the BLM files are often years out of date, particularly in reporting mining claim case file closures. California BLM is still working on 2018 claim case file closures for example.

Generally the most current mining claims information you can expect will be about 100 - 120 days behind the actual monument on the ground of a new claim. That's for the county records only. BLM delay time as noted varies but is almost always longer.

There are two public 3rd parties reporting BLM claims update information and about 6 paid services. We all use the same databases but present the information with different lag times, frequency (most paid services update monthly) and context. The vast majority of the twice monthly BLM database update users are securities ratings companies (think S&P), mining companies, oil companies, investment companies and fund managers. A lot of businesses rely on this information for their planning and SEC compliance.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Nice. I've been seeing them talk about this in their bi-weekly BLM data dumps for a while but never got around to checking it out.

Looks like they build a new Geocommunicator basically. For those who were around to remember that. This one seems to run way smoother and faster though.

Edit: I take the faster part back. It was working great, now it won't load the claims layer at all anymore. Oh well, they are still working on it it looks like.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried to get on the new MLRS today and it did not even load.  What I do like about it though, supposedly you can click on the claim and actually have a PDF file of the location certificate, which should include a map, come up, especially since most claims are not 1/4 1/4 1/4 sections.  Although my friend just tried to stake a claim and he cannot follow 20 acres along the creek anymore, he actually had to make it a square to fit in the PLSS system. Anyone else see this?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, afreakofnature said:

I tried to get on the new MLRS today and it did not even load.  What I do like about it though, supposedly you can click on the claim and actually have a PDF file of the location certificate, which should include a map, come up, especially since most claims are not 1/4 1/4 1/4 sections.  Although my friend just tried to stake a claim and he cannot follow 20 acres along the creek anymore, he actually had to make it a square to fit in the PLSS system. Anyone else see this?

The only PDFs of locations and maps will be the new claims that are entered into the online system. It will be awhile before you see any of those new claims on the MLRS. Existing claims won't be included.

To make a gulch placer claim your friend will have to locate by metes and bounds and include a statement and topo to the effect that there are no valuable minerals outside of the gulch. He will also have to meet the "Snowflake Fraction Placer" length rule. This isn't new to the MLRS it's been in effect for more than 100 years but with the new system the BLM can block improperly located placers.

It's a rare occurrence when the banks and benches of a gulch have no minerals so your friend should do some serious and documented mineral surveying of the banks and benches outside the gulch to support his gulch claim before he stakes, records and files. If there are valuable minerals in the banks and benches he will have to locate by aliquot part like a regular placer,

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...