Nevada Prospecting On Private Land With Permission

[Lead Detector]

If you have permission to prospect on private land in NV, does a claim need to be filed for mineral rights by the owner? Just curious. Does anyone have experience with this? 

[Clay Diggins]

Mining claims can only be located on public lands open to location.

Private land is neither public nor open to location so the simplest answer is "no". If the property owner owns both the surface and the minerals there is no need for a mining claim and locating one would be a waste of money and time as the claim would be invalid.

If the private land was acquired through a land patent that did not include the minerals then the owner can not give you permission to prospect.

There are many types of land patents that did not transfer the minerals into private ownership. The most common in Nevada are the Stock Raising and Homestead (SRH) patents. If the land was acquired through an SRH patent there is a process whereby you can prospect and locate mining claims on those private lands with 30 day notice and bond.

Clear as mud?

[Lead Detector]

6 minutes ago, Clay Diggins said:

Clear as mud?

Yep, that seems about right lol  thanks for the info.  I suppose if it's not crystal clear, I can always just detect for relics and coins there 😁

[Lead Detector]

43 minutes ago, Clay Diggins said:

Mining claims can only be located on public lands open to location.

So if the mlrs map is showing lode claim lines through private property, what would that indicate?

[Clay Diggins]

MLRS lode claim lines on private property could indicate:

• The private property does not have mineral rights and the minerals are open to location. (least likely)
• Individuals have located mining claims on private land not open to location. (most likely)
• The MLRS PLSS mapping is messed up and the claims are displaying in the wrong place. (likely depending on location - Oregon and California in particular are a mess)

The MLRS can not be used to determine mineral rights. The BLM does not determine individual or private mineral rights. To determine if the land is open to location you will need to study the Master Title Plat for the Township.

If you need help with a particular location PM me with the Township/Range/Section(s).

[HardPack]

The property owner should check the property deed and title search documents to verify if the mineral rights were included in the purchase of the property. You may discover that the sub-surface mineral rights were retained by prior sellers. Never came across a situation where the surface minerals right were retained by the seller. 

[jasong]

Yes, you can claim locatable minerals on private land. Reconveyed minerals sometimes are leasable. This is the concept behind the split estate. 

There are a number of different ways the minerals rights may have been retained as public - SRHA is the most common one in my experience. With SRHA the procedure is legally defined more or less, and you can read  the actual law pertaining to prospecting public minerals on private surface lands here. The lead geologist in your local BLM office generally will be familiar with the process and I would suggest talking to them to get more information.

Basically - it requires a bunch of notices and paperwork and compensation to the surface owner. And there is common law to consider such as reasonable surface use. 

You may prospect public locatable minerals on private land if you have permission from the surface owner to enter upon the land. It gets sticky with reconveyed/leasable minerals though technically speaking. 

[Steve Herschbach]

Maybe I'm wrong but I’m pretty sure the original poster is basically asking if they can metal detecting for gold nuggets on private property if they have permission from the property owner. I’m going to go out on a limb here and just say yes.

Sure, you could define that metal detecting for a gold nugget as a minerals exploration activity requiring legal ownership or permission from the owner of the underlying mineral rights. And that maybe somebody else other than the property owner has those rights and you are violating them. Maybe I’m out of line, but that seems like a bit of a stretch looking for a conflict over what is probably going to be a day spent digging bullets.

Chances are very high that if the private ground is of that much interest to a guy with a metal detector it’s probably patented mining ground, so the property owner most likely does have the mineral rights. Metal detecting for gold is generally defined as casual use by BLM and Forest Service so no permits normally required etc.

So if I know for a fact Bob owns the ground and he says I can go do my thing I’m not going to lose much sleep over anything beyond that. If Bob is aware of some serious conflict about the mineral rights I’d hope he’d mention something about that. Seems pretty low risk to me. If I want to bring in my excavator and drill rig that’s another matter.

[Clay Diggins]

Low risk? Usually.

The land in question is in a very productive historical and current mining district and has been under mineral lease to a large mining company in the past. It's a purchased property - It's never been claimed and the original patent was not mineral related.

It really is more complex than the owner told me it was OK. Maybe if you were detecting barren sand pits it wouldn't be a problem but entering private property in a mineralized district still requires due diligence. At the very least you need to check if the owner actually owns the minerals. More than 90% of landowners in the U.S. do not have mineral rights on their property. If you asked them most would say "of course I own the minerals".

[Lead Detector]

11 minutes ago, Clay Diggins said:

More than 90% of landowners in the U.S. do not have mineral rights on their property. If you asked them most would say "of course I own the minerals

That is exactly what I have always heard to be true, and is exactly why I asked this question.  Unfortunately trying to do something legit now days is getting so complicated, it's like trying to understand the tax code. I can't tell you how much I appreciate people like @Clay Digginshelping out a new addict like myself figure these things out.  Thank you sir