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For the last two years the BLM has CLOSED many thousands of mining claims on one day. These claims are the "Abandoned and Forfeited" mining claims that didn't file their annual requirement. Last year the BLM closed 28,340 claims on November 17th. The previous year the BLM closed 20,704 claims on November 17th. At present there are 29,069 mining claims in the BLM database that are marked as not having paid their annual fees. Land Matters Claims Advantage members have been receiving updates and maps on these claims scheduled for closure for the last month. If the past MLRS system is followed this year there will be more than 20,000 claims closed tomorrow. Those closed claims will be removed from the Land Matters Mining Claim Maps next week with our new claims update. Land Matters Claims Advantage Members will get a map of those closed claims for their use. A smart prospector might find these closed claims maps useful. A forward looking prospector might see it's a great way to support the only FREE non profit mining claims mapping and educational charity organization.

If you are maintaining your mining claim under a small miner's waiver you should be aware that the required Form (3830-02) due August 31 is not yet available. Here is a link the official BLM version of the form on their website. As you can see it expired this past April. https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/3830-002_0.pdf The BLM is required to renew official forms every three years or the form becomes invalid. (Privacy Act, Paperwork Reduction Act) The currently available 3830-02 Form expired in April of this year. The BLM did put in a request for extension in March of this year but the paperwork never moved forward. In the last week or so the 3830-02 form has been removed from the approval process. It appears it is no longer on the list of BLM forms. Here are the current results from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) the agency in charge of approving the form. https://omb.report/search.php?terms=1004-0114 That is where you will see if the required 3830-02 form has been approved. It will be at the very bottom of the list. At present it isn't even listed as a valid form. Some mining claims have been closed for submitting out of date forms. Technically the form has no value to the user or the BLM until the OMB approves the extension. This is a tricky situation. The California BLM put a modified 3830-02 in their mining claims packet this year. You wouldn't get one of those unless you requested it. Even though the form hasn't been approved they pasted a "2024" over the top of the "2023" on the expired form. They didn't change the approval date so it's obviously bogus. Some state offices have been suggesting owners just cross out the "2023" and write in "2024". I would not suggest doing that, I won't get into the details here but as you can imagine forgery of federal documents to receive a benefit is frowned upon. Here's what you need to watch out for with these forms. There is a block of type on the upper left corner and another on the upper right that together show that the form is current and valid. Here's an clipped example I made up of the top of the form with the critical numbers in red. If the dates don't reflect the three year extension period (2023 - 2026) it's bogus. If the form hasn't been approved by the OMB yet it doesn't matter if the numbers match it's bogus. I've discussed this problem with quite a few worried miners and the only real advice I can give is be prepared to pay the fee??? There may some political and there are certainly some social aspects of the BLM's failure to produce this required form. Please let's respect our host's wishes and keep any discussion about this on the practical and informative side. No politics please. Barry

Here it is summer already and the BLM has removed their mining claims maps - again. They say they think they will be back online on the 26th. 🐕🐴 For all those hoping to do some research before a weekend of prospecting Land Matters updated their Mining Claim Maps this week. These are the most up to date claims maps available anywhere. Heck they may be the only current free mining claim maps available anywhere. The Land Matters maps have more information than the BLM maps and they are the only maps that have the claim owner names. Anyone who has researched a potential prospecting area understands how important it is to be able to look up the claims paperwork and you can't do that without a name. So if you have been wondering how to check out that new area while the BLM is down again just wander on over to Land Matters and take a look around. We are always up and running and have been every day since 2014.

Back online.

If you own a mining claim in the lower 48 you may need to check the current status of your claim with the BLM. On November 17th the BLM closed 28,340 mining claims. On this same day last year they closed more than 20,000 mining claims. Many of the mining claims closed last year were closed in error. Although the BLM has reopened many of those mining claims closed in error last year many claim owners were left in limbo while the BLM tried to sort the mess. Unfortunately you may find it difficult to check claim status with the BLM. At the same time the BLM closed the 28 thousand plus mining claims they shut down access to the MLRS claims mapping and removed 91% of claim owner names from the search databases and maps. Now it appears they have also shut down the online records entirely. There is no indication if or when any of these public services will be returned. Land Matters Mining Claim maps have been updated since the claims were closed. The 28,000+ mining claims have been removed from the Land Matters claims maps. If you look on Land Matters and your claim isn't listed there is a very good chance your claim was closed. The mass mining claim closure took place on November 17th and the Land Matters mining claim data is current as of November 20th. I think at present Land Matters is the only source for this closure information and they have the most current claims information. If you know of other more current claims maps please share them here. You can also do a search on the Land Matters mining claim maps by the claim owner name and get the info on all your claims in one window. Land Matters did not remove claim owner information like the BLM did so you may have more luck searching Land Matters than searching the BLM (IF BLM returns the search tool functions) Land Matters also sent out a very large report early this week to their Claims Advantage Members with every closed claim listed with individual maps and links to the BLM records. Now you know why they call it the Claims Advantage. Land Matters educational charity was founded in 2014 for just these circumstances. After the BLM geocommunicator claims and land status map was taken down without notice or explanation in 2012 we noticed a lot of public information being removed from public access. We decided to do what the government has failed to do and aggregate and present this public information in a place that would be available to all people all the time. I just looked and the Land Matters servers have been providing this updated mapping for the last 1,650 days without a single glitch. More than 100,000 maps are served some days. And here is the remarkable thing. All these years and all this work are the result of an all volunteer non profit organization that relies exclusively on individual donations. Land Matters has no grants, has no advertising income, doesn't sell data and doesn't receive federal or state money. It really is a user supported resource. Thanks to all of you. Of course the Land Matters website is even busier with the BLM land mapping being closed. This has been a boom year for Land Matters user growth but like most small non profits it's been a tough year for donations. If you have found value in Land Matters and would like to see Land Matters continue to bring you public information there is no better time to make a donation. Or you could become a Claims Advantage Member by donating $100 or more and we will send you a copy of the 28,000 closed claims report along with another 23 (twice a month) for the next year. I don't know yet if any mining claims that were closed shouldn't have been closed. I've heard a few complaints but I haven't had time to check them out. I certainly hope that isn't the situation this year. If I owned a mining claim I would be checking the status. Barry

I’m not sure if I’m in the right forum but I found these minerals I believe to be Turgite on Magnetite. I am the first to discover it and there are 1000 pounds plus in this location. I found it with my pulse dive. The pieces are heavy and slightly magnetic. The issue is I’ve never done a mining claim and so far every international attorney I’ve talked to says they only work with companies not individuals. I found them in Italy. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

We have a rich area on one of our claims in the northern Sierra Nevada mountains of California and have had issues with tresspassers who are highgrading. We have not caught them yet. They opened up a big dig site on a bench near a creek. We tested the ground. My partner processed 20 buckets and got 5 grams of gold. Now I see why they are digging in there. We posted a claim sign on a tree right where they are digging and they have to look right at it. We put up two cameras which they found and stole. One was higher up in a tree and out of sight so they are be cautious and looking for traps. I called the Forest Service & they said it's the Sheriff's departments job. The sheriff's dept said they don't get involved in that kind of thing and it would be our job to catch them in the act, find out their names, and get proof they are stealing gold from us. Even if we call them while the thieves are there digging they won't get involved and say it is a civil matter for us to deal with. My younger partners want to lay in wait, catch them, and beat them up. I told them that's not a good idea as they could face charges and the thieves could bring back friends and relatives. Then you have a war. It's frustrating to say the least. One of my partners saw a green Dodge Dakota with a cap driving up and down the road many times while they were working there. It may have been the thieves waiting for them to leave. Not sure. Does anyone have any good suggestions other than shooting them or hanging them?

I have debated writing this but some things need to be aired. I don't intend to trespass on our forum rules of ad hominem attacks, so I'll be vague (barely). Last week I did a solo run to Rye Patch, intending to stay 3 days. For 2 days I hadn't seen a soul except far off dust trails. On the 3rd morning I saw a dark colored truck due west of section 19 so I thought I would go and visit and see if it was anyone I know. I found 2 guys with bright colored LSU shirts and a truck bearing Louisiana plates. The were struggling to assemble a brand new XP Deus I with a High Frequency coil. We got to talking while I took over the assembly of the Deus, and they told me they had purchased 2 gold claims in the area. After I got the detector up and running we chatted awhile longer and it was clear they were out of their element. Very amiable fellows and we continued talking about detecting and the likelihood of finding gold. I told them while the Deus 1 is a capable detector, it would not be a first choice for detecting Rye Patch. It seems that in their haste they had gone to their local detector dealer in LA and told him they needed a gold detector. He had 1 detector left in his shop, that being a Deus 1. He demonstrated the detector in his front yard over a man's gold ring. The detector clearly detected a gold ring and they bought it full retail with a High Frequency round coil and a pinpointer. In all fairness, the dealer in a southern state knows little to nothing about detecting gold nuggets in the west. Plus, that's the only detector he had available and they were in a hurry. So, we talked awhile longer and after a little private consultation they offered me the opportunity to detect their claim with them. We agreed to a 50/50 split and off we went following GPS coordinates due west and straight uphill. After a time I asked them if this claim had produced any gold, not having seen any evidence of workings, dig holes or old timers camps. They told me that according to the seller they could expect to find an ounce a week and that it was not uncommon to find an oz a day. I shook my head an told them I don't think so, since this was way outside the known gold producing zone. Nevertheless, I detected about a mile in a horseshoe loop back to our starting point. Not one single target, no trash, no bullets and no evidence of workings. I had a pretty good idea that they had been sold on a dream but they were such nice and decent guys I wanted to help. I called home in Fernley NV and had my girlfriend gather up my GPZ 7000 and Equinox 800 and meet me in Lovelock. The next day I met with my new Cajun friends and they still had not met with their seller so I told me let's go detect using my true gold detectors. I gave them some quick lessons and followed along while they detected and dug trash targets. I detected a few promising signals with the 6000 and had them come and listen with the other detectors. Unfortunately, none of my promising targets were gold, but they had a chance to learn about the whisper targets, and try understand the loud booming targets were likely trash. They offered to pay me for my time and use of detectors and I countered they could pay for my girlfriend's gas for delivering the detectors, but that I was happy to spend time with them detecting. Mind you, I'm no Albert Sweitzer, but I just felt bad that these guys had been abused trying to join and learn my favorite hobby. By day 6 of my 3 day trip I needed to get home for some appointments. They had finally met with their seller and learned that the area we explored was not in fact their claim. He showed them the claim (from the description worse) although he didn't show them where the gold was, but they enjoyed some sightseeing of Majuba. I remained dubious, but they had renewed faith and I had to leave. They detected their new claim (with my detectors) the next morning and found a bullet, and some aluminum targets. Nothing promising. I called Lucky Lundy and explained this dilemma of some nice guys getting some bad information. He was otherwise committed and couldn't help, but made some calls and found another fellow prospector who needed a good excuse to get out for a day of prospecting and agreed to meet my Cajun friends. He helped them as much as he could, no one found any gold. All I can say is we gave it a game effort, or an honest effort as it were. They are on their way back to Louisiana having learned the promise of riches in gold claims out west can be alluring but success is fleeting. $12k may not be a lot to most folks, but it sure is to me. I understand that in the business of selling used cars and gold claims a little puffery is to be tolerated. I think this went way beyond puffery, I saw the text exchanges. To add insult to injury, the seller offered to sell them a 3rd claim with a deposit due immediately. I am personally embarrassed and pissed that this still goes on. These guys were really nice people and honest to a fault. I know, they should have done more research and been more skeptical of the claims made. They never heard of this forum, but had they inquired here, our people could have cautioned them. All I can say is thank god they hadn't heard of Long Range Locators, or whatever they're called these days. Perhaps the seller came in and tell his version of events. Unlikely.

The BLM MLRS reporting system will be closed from 8 pm central time today March 8th until 9:30 am central time on Monday March 14th. You will not be able to research or file mining claims online until next Monday. If you need to file paperwork the BLM State offices will be available for walk in filings. Land Matters will still be available for current research and mapping during this time. We will be updating the Mining Claims maps later today.

In North America or Aussie if you are nugget shooting with the claim or land owners agreement, subject to them getting a piece of the value of any finds, what would be typical percentages for their "take"? I assume it would be based on the spot price of gold and you'd have to assume 100% fineness?

It seems ever few yrs we get a post on here about folks who own gold claims having issues with Claim Jumpers. I'm not saying it's right or wrong to own a gold claim but I sure see issues that I don't want to mess with. I have friends and customers who own good gold claims and every one of them have caught folks in pursuit of precious metals. Yes it's ok to drive across, park and even camp on someones claim and I have no issues with that. I have also ran into a few rough neck who won't allow you to camp or even park on their claim. I know I'm in the right, but I'm not going to argue and or do I like worrying. Besides, I am usually the one driving the nicer fancy truck and I know how much it cost to get 4 new tires replaced (not from experience). I simply turn around and go somewhere else where I feel it's more safe. There's a guy in NV (won't mention names but he has been on here before) who is so anal about people getting on his claims. He's called me in times past and swore I was on his claims and in fact I had not been to NV in months. This guy has blamed my Field Staff being on his claims and even says he flies over and takes pictures. But yet he has never proven it. Yes he owns gold claims and a couple of them are really good producers and I have even found gold on his claims (with him being there). I feel the stress some folks go through is not worth it and wonder why even own one? I've come to the conclusion that owning a good or productive gold claim is like marrying a really good looking lady. There's always someone trying to get in on the poke. No I don't own any claims and I really don't think I need the stress of always worrying about it either. If you own one, do you stress over it or are you low key and just roll with it? No right or wrong answers.

Just thought i'd start a post about mining in Australia and what it's like compared to California. As some of us know, California is not mining friendly. I've actually had people say to me "Oh no, you're not one of those people are you?" Sort of makes you feel like a second class citizen. So how is it for the miners in Ausralia?

Here is an article with some interesting information about possibly reopening a gold mine. I am not so much interested in 'this' mine as much as the author's information about other aspects of mining. How accurate is it? I think there are a few readers here with some competitive knowledge. https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/01/gold-mines-reopening-california/621403/

As I stated in my posting of the journal, we are experiencing claim jumpers just like Jed did back in 1936. Nothing much changes over 86 yrs. The claim is well posted. We even posted a claim sign on a tree right where the claim jumper have a huge hole going and are high grading $500/yd gravels. We put up game cams. They stole them. They are coming in when no one is there. So today I contacted the Sherif's Dept. They said it is not their issue & to contact the Forest Service. The Forest Service says it's a civil issue except for the stolen cams. They told me to find out who they are and take them to court. I had thought mineral theft was a criminal offense. Am I supposed to walk up to them and ask them for their identification? I don't think that would work out too well.

Does anyone on here know how to navigate the new BLM MLRS claims database, and how to navigate and utilize the features on the map program? It is supposed to be alot easier than LR2000 which is gone now. Perhaps a video on here would be good for everyone. It is still confusing.

I’ve been curious about using the Bureau of Land Management’s MLRS site https://mlrs.blm.gov/s/ to figure out where to go detect on open lands in heavily claimed areas, and I’ve noticed that it does show some “active claims” on the maps highlighted with red crosshatching, but it doesn’t show “active claims” in other areas at all. It’s strange because the map key includes a code for active load and active placer claims, in addition to closed ones. I’ve heard that it’s because BLM hasn’t caught up on the records yet, but does anyone know why otherwise? I hope it becomes available because that would be a wonderful feature instead of having to get records from their offices.

A very useful recent post and comments on mining claims left me with the impression that the public can be excluded from mining claims by the holder. It's quite possible that I misunderstood what was written. Perhaps others were left with some doubt as well. The BLM pamphlet "Mining Claims and Sites on Federal and State Lands" reads: The Public has the conditional right to cross mining claims or sites for recreational or other purposes and to access federal lands beyond the claim boundaries. Technically, my post belongs in the previous mentioned post, but it would be buried and missed by many. I hope Steve will permit it to exist as an independent post because of its importance to us all.

I've been considering the idea of buying a patented claim, but I'm curious what property rights you have with such a claim: is is essentially indistinguishable from private property at that point? Am I allowed to put a fence around the claim and post 'no trespassing' signs? What about obtaining permits to build structures - is it done through the city/county just like with normal property?

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!

I'm going to be in AZ this weekend and I think I've found a good spot that allows for prospecting. Since it's my first time detecting, I wanted to make sure I've done my due diligence. The spot is Saddle Mountain, AZ. General coordinates: 33.445615°, -113.013318° I have verified that this is BLM land, and that it's not a wilderness area, and that it's not within a National Monument. I've checked on landmatters to verify that there aren't any active claims on the area (although there are historic claims, which I hope is a good sign). Is there any other research I need to do? I know there are some petroglyphs on the site, and I'd stay far away from those, but other than that, most of the mountain looks pretty open. BLM maps screenshot Land matters screenshot

As Land Matters does every new mining year we are offering for download our annual mining claims flow diagrams and written explanations of the annual BLM mining claim filing requirements. These filing aids have helped many claim owners wade through the BLM filing requirements. These popular PDF handouts are updated for the upcoming 2021 mining year (beginning September 1, 2020). Feel free to share and post these wherever you wish as long as you don't modify them and keep them intact with their copyright notices. Reminder The federal filing deadline this year for all mining claims is Monday August 31, 2020. Download the Free 2020 Annual Federal Mining Claims Filing Requirements

Hello everybody, im on the search for a load claim or two. In my search I’ve been doing some research on an old mine I know about. It has some promising history, and worth some further investigation The problem is it has a current active claim on it. The same company has owned it for around 30 years, but nothing has been done with it in that time. i can’t figure out why someone would keep a claim that long, and not do anything with it? Possibly an environmental group keeping it from being mined? my question is, doesn’t some kind of work have to be done to keep it valid? thanks for any replies!

Anyone had experience being part of a group that owns claims that allows its members to prospect on? Here in Australia "Little Ripper Gold Inc" has formed a not for profit group that has 4 or 5 claims already and will be using members yearly fee of $100 to buy more. Im told that you Americans have similar setups over there. https://www.facebook.com/FreeGoldCamps/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/LittleRipperGold/

Good mornin' y'all- I have done several hours of solid research this morning about lode staking and I have not found conclusive answers to theae two questions yet. These questions are only for the initial time you actually discover the lode area and place the monument on the diacovery, before sending in any paperwork/filing forms/fees, etc. If you have any experience with these specific areas of lode claim staking here in CA, I would very, very much appreciate any advice, experience, and or details you have to share. Thank you very much for your time, experience, and your help. 1. Does the discovery monument need to have a written/filled-out notice of discovery paper/sign attached to the actual monument or posted anywhere around it on day-1, or, does it simply just have to be a bare monument with no posted notice/wtitten sign? 2. If a written/filled-out notice of discovery paper/sign is required on the center monument at the initial staking of said Lode claim, do I need to list my personal address of residence with my full name posted on the sign? I'd like to maintain whatever privacy I am allowed to keep while also following all of the related rules/regulations/laws. I do not have a separate business set up that I could put on the sign either. Thanks again and have a rockin' day! Kevin

Several of us on this forum belong to clubs. Some of us hunt those claims in addition to others. The thought has occurred to me recently that when we talking about hunting on club claims here that someone in Australia and even New Zealand might not know what we are talking about. When I was in Australia I had a map of the public forests and some were open for detecting and some were not. You could get State information about likely gold spots in addition to previously mined spots. There are thousands and thousands of open acres. If you could hook up with a tour or trainer they could give you the pointy finger about where to go. I was mostly on my own and it showed! haha Just because you don't find gold it is not because it has been over hunted. I'd have to say that most of my time in Victoria I was detecting in spots where there was no dig holes. Bendigo was an exception. My point is that someone can go to open land without being a 'club' member. That can be good and bad in reality. I'm not going to attempt to name all clubs (there are dozens now down from hundreds I think) and how long they have been in existence (Some since the 60s) but it would 'level the playing ground' when we talk about missed nuggets on a club claim vs open land. The largest club in the United States is the Gold Prospectors Association of America. Members pay an annual fee and they are given a directory of club claims. https://www.goldprospectors.org/testpage/GPAAClaimDirectory This is the history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Prospectors_Association_of_America There is still gold on the GPAA claims. Some claims are not as old as others and some just have missed gold still on them. Some are severely depleted from dry washing and detecting for all of these years. Some of us use the claims as a jumping off spot to look for other gold. My point in bringing it up is to show how much real pressure and detecting there can be on certain spots that once had gold. There are three different clubs claiming land in Gold Basin. Sometimes these club claims bring detectorists together for just a weekend and other times it can be for most of a winter season. Day trippers are frequent. It would be very difficult to estimate the number of detectorists over the years that have swung on any particular patch of club claim. Let's say hundreds on a conservative estimate and thousands on the high end. Fortunately for Gold Basin there has been a lot of gold and also a lot of land to look for it. Each time a new detector comes out then the patch has become a bit more lively again as what has happened with the Z. I've found more nuggets with my Z in Gold Basin than I did with my GPX but many people before me dry washed, sluiced and detected big nuggets with beginning detectors. Club members have been generally good over the years about sharing information. Membership enforcement is spotty so there are 'jumpers' added to the numbers even tho dues are generally under $50 per year. There are many other groups and clubs other than GPAA. Perhaps we should have a thread or a forum that gives some sort of description of different clubs. Maybe one already exists. The clubs exist for the most part on public land. They stake a claim based upon a member knowing and wanting to share that location with others. Otherwise it would be a private claim or private land (like Jason's) just as they have in most of the US, Australia and New Zealand I imagine. There is some discussion now if a 'club claim' is legal under the mining laws. Generally claims are limited in size and number of people or entities. Many club locations are a lease to make access legal. All of this is designed to get as many people as possible to join. Many are non-profit groups. Many club members have abused the land with open dig holes, destroyed access roads and being generally trashy. Some clean up. Each of the clubs have key people who have recently gotten very old and clubs are getting smaller. Oldtimer knowledge is leaving as the numbers dwindle. Many of them have never posted a letter on an internet forum like this one. They were private people. They would never show their gold here. That brings up another idea. Someone should or may go to some of these miners and write a story about each of them. It is kinda like doing stories about the veterans of the wars. Well, this is the beginning ramble. I hope that many of you who have a hankering to ramble about clubs and people tell those stories in this thread to keep their memories alive. This will help us to know who the miners and detectorists were that came before us.