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Colorado Prospector - Gem and mineral prospecting and mining forums _ Prospecting and Mining Laws, Regulations etc. _ Placer Claim Location Map

Posted by: EarthEx Apr 8 2015, 10:33 AM

Greetings,

When adding a map to a Placer Location Certificate, do the claim boundaries need to be in Lat & Long or UTM? Also, are there any regulations on the shape of the placer claim?

Thanks,
EarthEx

Posted by: Clay Diggins Apr 8 2015, 10:49 AM

Placer claims are generally made by aliquot part. If you can not locate by aliquot parts of the Public Land Survey System you will need to locate by metes and bounds (distance and direction).

Those are the only two legal ways to describe a claim location. You can add all the details you want, like directions or GPS coordinates, but the actual Legal Land Description is limited to just aliquot part or metes and bounds. Neither involve map projections like Lat/Lon or UTM.

All of this information is clearly explained in the 1872 Mining Act. I'm sure someone here can direct you to the relevant mining laws.

Posted by: EarthEx Apr 8 2015, 11:22 AM

QUOTE (Clay Diggins @ Apr 8 2015, 11:49 AM) *
Placer claims are generally made by aliquot part. If you can not locate by aliquot parts of the Public Land Survey System you will need to locate by metes and bounds (distance and direction).

Those are the only two legal ways to describe a claim location. You can add all the details you want, like directions or GPS coordinates, but the actual Legal Land Description is limited to just aliquot part or metes and bounds. Neither involve map projections like Lat/Lon or UTM.

All of this information is clearly explained in the 1872 Mining Act. I'm sure someone here can direct you to the relevant mining laws.



Thanks Clay. I can use the PLSS. But on the 2 neighboring claims, they also have an attached detailed map with UTM coordinates for the claim corners.

Posted by: MikeS Apr 8 2015, 07:08 PM

QUOTE (EarthEx @ Apr 8 2015, 11:33 AM) *
When adding a map to a Placer Location Certificate, do the claim boundaries need to be in Lat & Long or UTM? Also, are there any regulations on the shape of the placer claim?


The only regs that I know of for shape of a placer is it needs to be 20 acres or less and you need to put a marker at each angle (change of direction of the boundry) and must be described that way on your Certificate of Location. Most filings that I have seen do not use GPS or UTM.

Posted by: fenixsmom Apr 8 2015, 08:35 PM

As I've come to understand it, they want a square/ rectangle shape.

Posted by: Clay Diggins May 27 2016, 08:56 PM

From Section 10 of the General Mining Act of 1872

QUOTE
all placer mining-claims hereafter located shall conform as near as practicable with the United States system of public land surveys and the rectangular subdivisions of such surveys, and no such location shall include more than twenty acres for each individual claimant, but where such claims cannot be conformed to legal subdivisions, survey and plat shall be made as on unsurveyed lands


Hope that helps

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