Panning and gold detecting in fremont???, Was looking for a good place this weekend? Options

[Troy#1]

Hello everyone Iam new to this forum and gold prospecting in general but just bought a bunch of gear and live in canon city CO, was looking for a little help in the search of ether a good ghost town for my new ATgold or a good sluice area for this time year for my new Keene A52? Plan on joining the CP yearly once I recover from the 1300 spent on gear! Thanks in advance really like reading some of these posts.

[swizz]

Hi Troy and welcome to CP!

My suggestion is to learn the nuances of land status research so that you can become a "true" prospector/small scale miner. You don't need to suck on the hind tit of a GPAA or GPOC claim... stake your own claim. I learned everything needed to do this in relatively short order from the kind folks here. I'm now a proud claim owner and know my rights very well. Land status research has become second nature.
If you were to join here at an Annual level you would be quickly introduced to the basics of land status research since all of the Annual CP areas require the user to verify the status of the BLM and NFS lands that this club recommends. That's a damn good start to learning the basics... forces you to learn it if you wanna legally use these areas. Do you want to learn?
Any miner worth his salt knows the basics of land status research and abides/is protected by the mining laws of 1872. These are things you need to know (unless you're content sucking hind tit).
Explore your public lands for Gold & Gems and stake a claim. That's how real miners operate and what we strive to teach here. Colorado is an exceptional state to do this in and we're lucky to live here. Strongly suggest that you take advantage if you're serious about it. Consider this site an oasis if that's your prerogative. We're here to help.

[Troy#1]

Hi Troy and welcome to CP!

My suggestion is to learn the nuances of land status research so that you can become a "true" prospector/small scale miner. You don't need to suck on the hind tit of a GPAA or GPOC claim... stake your own claim. I learned everything needed to do this in relatively short order from the kind folks here. I'm now a proud claim owner and know my rights very well. Land status research has become second nature.
If you were to join here at an Annual level you would be quickly introduced to the basics of land status research since all of the Annual CP areas require the user to verify the status of the BLM and NFS lands that this club recommends. That's a damn good start to learning the basics... forces you to learn it if you wanna legally use these areas. Do you want to learn?
Any miner worth his salt knows the basics of land status research and abides/is protected by the mining laws of 1872. These are things you need to know (unless you're content sucking hind tit).
Explore your public lands for Gold & Gems and stake a claim. That's how real miners operate and what we strive to teach here. Colorado is an exceptional state to do this in and we're lucky to live here. Strongly suggest that you take advantage if you're serious about it. Consider this site an oasis if that's your prerogative. We're here to help.

Yes I really want to learn and only joined the GPAA thinking the guide would be helpful but its really not and maybe find a claim that I could learn on, I would love to get my own claim and I have all the time in the world to prospect as I dont get much work around here but what kind of money is involed it getting a claim???

I would really love to have an area to learn without any worries and know that I have a chance at making something out of it one day, I have watched some of the videos you recommend from the prospecting channel and working on getting the rest of the things I need but until I at least get out and find a spot and some color I dont want to be putting to much into it.

I will join up asap cause Iam serious about this and like I said I need all the help I can get!

[swizz]

... what kind of money is involed it getting a claim???

It's not very expensive to stake your own.
If you stake your own claim the initial filing fees are in the ballpark of $200. +/-
After that you are responsible for paying annual filing fees to legally maintain ownership of the claim. If you miss the annual deadline (Aug 31)... you lose the claim.
Basically, there are two methods of filing annually for an individual Location Claim once you own it:
1) Provide a statement of (at least $100 worth) maintenance performed on that land and pay $10 per year
2) Use Annual Maint Fee Waiver option and pay $140 per year
You can use either option each year. They require that you pay the $140 (included in that $200 +/- estimate) for your initial filing but it's up to the claim owner after that.
I prefer to pay the $140 per year which leaves no legal room for maintenance scrutiny from the land mgmt agency (typically NFS or BLM). For myself and many claim owners this is a wise decision. Many others prefer the $10 annual route but in my opinion.... it leaves your flanks exposed.

[Troy#1]

It's not very expensive to stake your own.
If you stake your own claim the initial filing fees are in the ballpark of $200. +/-
After that you are responsible for paying annual filing fees to legally maintain ownership of the claim. If you miss the annual deadline (Aug 31)... you lose the claim.
Basically, there are two methods of filing annually for an individual Location Claim once you own it:
1) Provide a statement of (at least $100 worth) maintenance performed on that land and pay $10 per year
2) Use Annual Maint Fee Waiver option and pay $140 per year
You can use either option each year. They require that you pay the $140 (included in that $200 +/- estimate) for your initial filing but it's up to the claim owner after that.
I prefer to pay the $140 per year which leaves no legal room for maintenance scrutiny from the land mgmt agency (typically NFS or BLM). For myself and many claim owners this is a wise decision. Many others prefer the $10 annual route but in my opinion.... it leaves your flanks exposed.

Wow I had no idea it was that cheap Iam sure theres got to be alot of paperwork BS to deal with though?
I would really love that more than anything so Iam down to pay for it but finding the right spot seems like the hard part!

Thanks for letting me know Swizz!

[swizz]

... theres got to be alot of paperwork BS to deal with though?

No, it's not too excessive. All has to be done right and in proper order though.

[Troy#1]

No, it's not too excessive. All has to be done right and in proper order though.

I think I read somewhere on here that being a member they give you areas to look into that are unclaimed if so would they help in any of the paperwork aspects as well, dont want to sound like I cant do anything on my own but dont want to be one to do things wrong ether!