Mining claims location or patented, Placer, Lode, Mill site Options

[CP]

Mining claims are real property and can be sold, traded, or leased as with any real property.
There are several types of claims which should be discussed to teach the differences in not only ownership, but also how research varies because of status and what that means to you in the field as a prospector.

First there are patented (private land with deed) or location claims.
Again these are both real property but differ in the fact that a patented claim (filed as location originally), has since been perfected and patented giving the owner actual permanent deed with 100% ownership in the land.

Location claims are also private property in every sense, but the claim owner owns (has claimed) the minerals within that claim and has not perfected the claim to patent for a deed yet.

Within either of those catagories, there would have been originally for patented, or would be now for location claims, one of three different types of claims possibly filed originally. Lode, Placer or Mill site.

Lode claim - For hard rock mining ore bodies drifting or shaft type mining. Orientated with the deposit or dyke formation's direction and centered upon it. 600' x 1500' size (20 acres) and were in depths of 2000' each for some areas historically.

Placer claim - For aluvial glacial till areas and their related drainages/deposits where "placer" material (not in host postition) would have been re-deposited in favorable conditions by water, erosion, gravity, and or other geologic evolution. 20 acre limit each. Normal operations would be benches or pit operations in addition to water processes where locations favor.

Mill site claim - For use with either lode or placer claims to process material from that mine and or store equipment and supplies. Mill sites claims do not claim minerals under them but do contain mineral rights when patented.
5 acre limit each and can be non-adjacent to the claim being mined.

All three (Lode, Placer, or Mill site) could have been patented and are now deeded private land, or could currently be location claims within NF or BLM lands.

Research varies between patented/private land and location claims within national lands.
For private patented lands you'll need to check the county assesors office as each private land owner pays property tax each year and those records are kept there.
For location claims though, you'll need to check the clerk and recorders office as this will be where those records are filed.

You can also find claim information from the BLM's LR2000 database, but with time guideline laws written as they are for new claim filings, you'll find the most upto date information through the county offices on location claims. When you're finalizing your research for your own claim to stake and file, this timeline could make a difference if someone else had recently staked/filed in that area.

We thought this might make a good read/topic for those interested. There are many many more details involved with properly researching, staking, filing, and then working your own mining claim which we all can add in for the future discussion as time goes.

Having a good understanding of what to do in the field starts with the proper knowledge base, which reflects on your field operations and success. DIG IN!!

For those interested in learning more about the mining laws and regulations that uphold them, check out our Prospecting and Mining Laws, Regulations etc. section of the forum too.

[CP]

Thanks for your contribution Clay diggings, I was fully aware of tunnel claim sites when I started this thread back in Jan. of 2010. As noted by Emac, it didn’t seem applicable to 99% of this community’s forum members.

Good job Jessie and Emac, you’re both on the ball here. Tunnel sites are associated with lode claims by nature and take on a much larger venture in capital, man power etc etc. Not what most of us have been discussing but none the less it is a fourth type of claim. Even though the tunnel may not have been blasted for mineral discovery to begin with, like a RR/mining company tunnel project I could see this come into play. Their option to stake on discoveries would already be “claimed” via tunnel claim and their capital expenditure reaching said discovery, which then would have lode claims filed upon them as required after discovery.

Emac, those CFR’s are very much worth learning about in my opinion, although they are in fact not the law, that much is correct. The CFR’s are part of the bigger picture, can be used by you for your benefit, and is part of what we are continually working to educate folks about because the officials use them against us. Knowing what they are suppose to use and do for their job gives us more power/knowledge to make the best decisions for our own situations as they arise, including backing down officials outside their authority in the field as our club members have shown time and time again successfully!

Jessie, you may very well stand alone on that I do not know, but I don’t think we are the type around here to judge you because of it….it’s your choice.
All we wish for you is more knowledge for your own success, no matter the source. Accuracy however can become an issue as you’ve seen. Again it’s each individuals choice to use knowledge the gain as they see fit if it is in fact accurate, this can empower you independently.

We’ve embraced the individuals having knowledge for 11+ years here at Colorado Prospector club, it’s our whole concept which you choose to join.
Clay however is not interested in this community’s view point, look at his posts thus far. Not once has he complimented your efforts personally, or anyone else’s, nor the website itself. Only has been posting in a corrective (helpful?) manner without acknowledgement of the threads content for the most part other than to “correct”. I find that odd.

Throwing topics off track after appearing helpful doesn’t seem constructive to the thread.
Another tactic I’ve notice is Clay would like to have his name showing as posted most recently in all the laws and regs sections of the forums…… deliberately spamming out forums/sections and stirring up the normal community members, again while appearing to be sooo polite and “helpful”, but completely void of sincerity or other user acknowledgement. Seems pretty obvious to me that he’s not looking to “make friends” as Swizz pointed out. Case in point…..this thread is so far off its topic title….WOW! Why? Because someone had another opinion, then the sarcasm comes in again… how this can be taken as sincere or helpful towards anyone I do not know. You’d think the person posting such sarcasm would realize that.

I will also point out that we are here at the Colorado Prospector website and this person with no interest in Colorado or the site (by their own words) seems to really be interested in stirring the pots around here. Unfortunately for them this is not their website, it is ours, the clubs, which I pay for with you the club members support. So as this person keeps coming in to be helpful with such tactics, I will continue to come in and stick up for our ground here! I’m not at anyone else’s websites boasting or stirring up members in another community. That ain’t cool!

I would sure hope there aren’t any club members that hold anything against me for standing our ground in such situations.