Mineral and Gem mining and prospecting, What is the first step Options

[zziipp]

I am having trouble getting a straight answer from the officials in Colorado. Can someone please tell me how to obtain permits or stake a claim on Mt. Antero. What is my first step

[Somethin' Else]

I would like to hear some stories about your encounters with government types and the experience you have had with standing up for your miners rights. Since there is so much misinformation out there, perhaps personal testimonies would be more informative. What can we expect to encounter out there? And how many of you have had to go to court over mining issues? And how much has it cost you (dollar-wise) to take your case to court, win or lose?

[MikeS]

I would like to hear some stories about your encounters with government types and the experience you have had with standing up for your miners rights.

When I filed my first claim at the BLM office they tried to misfile my claim several times before I was able to get the person behind the counter to understand their own procedure for filing a "bridge claim" (see rockets second link). Luckily I knew what I was doing otherwise my claim could have been invalidated. The BLM folks are nice but don't count on them to know even their own rules.

How about getting answers straight from the officials.

The Mining Claim Packet was not too bad before the new revisions. Now I would say it is filled with garbage. Even the first section "Notice to mining claimaints" has inaccurate and misleading info. The BLM or NF are not supposed to give legal advice. They will gladly print this packet to express their opinion though.
The second link posted to the Colorado BLM is likely the best page I have seen the BLM put out but it is still lacking.