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I made this chart to provide a basis for discussion of some other comparative charts I'll be posting soon. Just to be clear this chart does not include Alaska or the few claims that have not been posted to the LR2000 yet. Data is from November 15, 2015. This chart was a little awkward to make because of the elephant in the room. See if you can spot it. First one to spot it gets a free eBay claim (doc fees and shipping not included). Hint: It's blue.

The beginning of the Federal mining year is September 1st of each year. That's the date all mining claims owners need to have either paid a maintenance fee or filed a small miners waiver. If they don't meet the deadline or submit all the proper fees and forms their claims will be marked CLOSED in the BLM case files. Even though the final date is September 1st the BLM takes a lot of time updating their records. Generally most claimants that didn't file anything will be closed by January but the Small Miners claims are often not updated until the following year beginning in January. This is the time of year to watch for good mining lands to open up to claim. The closures dribble in in chunks throughout these months. Each BLM State Office sets their own priorities and deadlines internally so some States get their claims updated quickly - others take forever. This year Utah completed updating virtually all of their claims files in September yet California traditionally runs nearly a year behind. At Land Matters we track the progress on these claims updates. The most recent closures are reported to Claims Advantage members twice monthly. Those members get an interactive list of of the recently closed claims listed by state. It's not possible to get this list from the LR2000 because all closed claims actions are backdated to their effective date, usually September 1st. Here is a look at how many claims have not yet been updated to 2016 in the BLM databases and have not been closed. These claims are the ones that might still be closed by the BLM but have yet to be determined. Many of these claims are Small Miners status that won't be settled out until January or February of next year, many are in adjudication and many are claims the BLM State office just hasn't gotten around to updating. This chart is from November 1st. There hasn't been a lot of change in those numbers with the exception of Idaho. As Claims Advantage members know Idaho has since CLOSED 1,474 claims, opening up another 29,000 acres of land to claiming.

Tin horn that i am i missed my sept 1 filing date. Called state blm office and those nice ladies sent me the federal registry notice. now i know; 1 you cannot be granted claim on segregated land (But they will take your money) 2-you can still mine/prospect on "recreational" level. 3-must contact state around sept 20, 2017 to find out if withdrawl will become effective(and only a vast public opposition has any hope of stopping it). I think i may still re-record my claim at county, perhaps this will give one legal grounds in future. For 12.00$ its a cheap insurance/chance.

I just was wondering if some of you have had these problems on claim sometimes. We have had lots of lead around ,thats gonna happen but when they shoot inside of small digs with shotguns and 22s they very well know what it does to ALL prospecting methods.I have found many pieces of detectable stuff stuffed inside of small place's just too throw detectors off. Our claim has seem many of these including the guy that digs out a deep target (assuming ) then burys the hole half way back up with big lead in hole, laughing the whole time hes doing it. It is someone pretty knowledgeable about detecting. Last time i went too claim this had happened near one of my big nugget producing areas,it really gets adrenadrenaline flowing. I would really like to catch this guy it is just a slap in the face and he knows it .,I have been collecting a few clues maybe catch them someday. We know they have pulled gold here and they will be back. We do have a few people who watch claims occasionally but this is gonna happen. Just wondering if any of you have had this happen and maybe some ideas. Rick

Here is a dilemna Ive wondered about,maybe someone can clear thisup for me. I spend 90% of my time relic hunting. I fully realize that claim ownership means you own the mineral rights. But...can I metal detect for relics/coins on someones claim without seeking their permission? The only obvious to my intent would be my choice in detector...usually a Tejon...rather than say swinging a gmt ,but saying Im coinshooting,lol. Anyone have thoughts on this? Ray

The budget process under way includes some proposed changes to the mining law that claim owners or those thinking of owning claims need to be aware of. From BLM Bureau Highlights page 12 http://www.doi.gov/budget/appropriations/2016/highlights/upload/BH007.pdf "The second legislative proposal institutes a leasing pro- cess under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 for certain minerals—gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, uranium, and molybdenum—currently covered by the General Mining Law of 1872. After enactment, mining for these metals on Federal lands will be governed by the new leasing process and subject to annual rental payments and a royalty of not less than five percent of gross proceeds. Half of the receipts will be distributed to the States in which the leases are located and the remaining half will be deposited in the Treasury. Existing mining claims will be exempt from the change to a leasing system. The proposal also increases the annual maintenance fees under the General Mining Law of 1872 and eliminates the fee exemption for miners holding ten or fewer mining claims. These changes will discourage speculators from holding claims that they do not intend to develop. Holders of existing mining claims for these minerals could voluntarily convert their claims to leases. The Office of Natural Resources Revenue will collect, account for, and disburse the hardrock royalty receipts." Note that these are listed under a heading as changes relating to hardrock mining reform. Without seeing the actual proposed legislation it is not clear but it would seem unlikely that this would not end up applying to all claims on federal land, including placer claims. In the future there would be no new claims, only leases, subject to leasing fees and a royalty of not less than 5% of gross receipts. This means you could lose money and still owe a royalty. Furthermore the Small Miners Exemption would be eliminated, and annual fees increased for existing claims. Before everyone goes ballistic keep in mind proposals like these have been floated for decades and so it is not a given it will come to pass. The big boys will certainly fight the leasing and royalty portions. However, they will not care about the Small Miners Exemption. If you do, you may want to dig deeper into the proposals and keep an eye on their progress. This would have a devastating impact on club ownership of claims in particular.

Welcome to the Bureau of Land Management(BLM), General Land Office (GLO) Records Automation web site. We provide live access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States, including image access to more than five million Federal land title records issued between 1820 and the present. We also have images related to survey plats and field notes, dating back to 1810. Due to organization of documents in the GLO collection, this site does not currently contain every Federal title record issued for the Public Land States. http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/default.aspx This site is going to eat up a vast amount of my time!

I am looking for geological reports for a specific patented property. If I understand correctly before a patent is issued a survey has to be done and I am having difficulty finding one. Anyone know the process to obtain this kind of info?