When most people hear the term “staking a claim,” their minds go back to their 4th grade history lesson about the California Gold Rush from 1848-1855. They recall images of grizzled miners crouched over a stream panning for gold, actively working their claim.
Staking mining claims is not a thing of the past, however. The mining industry in the United States is alive, well, and huge. The U.S. Geological Survey announced that in 2021, the industry produced approximately $90 billion worth of nonfuel commodities. Mining claims are indeed still very much big business.
Even with such profits on the line, the process for staking a mining claim is not much more complicated than the one developed by those early “forty-niners.” Find a likely piece of land that no one has laid claim to, mark it clearly, and file your claim with the appropriate agency.
Mining Claims on Federal Lands
There are 19 states - Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming - in which individuals or corporations may stake mining claims on federal lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
There are many of claims on federal and private lands open for location: lode claims, placer claims, millsite claims and tunnel site claims.
According to the BLM, lode claim involve hard rock mining. Minerals may be embedded in a ledge, deep vein, ridge, or within a mountain. Individual lode claims may be a maximum of 1500 feet long and 600 feet wide (300 feet on either side of the vein).
Placer claims may be up to 20 acres per locator and include “all forms of deposit, excepting veins of quartz, or other rock in-place." Placers are essentially deposits of valuable minerals mixed with loose sand, gravel or other material. Mining a placer claim often involves using water and gravity to isolate the desirable minerals.
How to Stake a Mining Claim
State and federal laws apply to mine claims, so be aware of the regulations for both when preparing to file a claim. Make sure there are no prior claims on a site. Both searching BLM records and looking for any claim marking on the ground are suggested.
Federal law states that mining claims must be clearly marked. States have their own requirements, but physical monuments at the four corners and center are common. Types of monuments can include stone mounds, thick wooden posts, PVC and metal posts.
Claimants must file a mining claim with the appropriate BLM office within 90 days of staking the claim on the ground, as well as filing a record of the claims with the county office. Processing and location fees will be due upon filing as well as an annual maintenance fee. BLM maintenance fees for mining claims need to be paid annually on or before September 1.
As long as maintenance fees are kept up, the claimant enjoys exclusive rights to access minerals on the land.
Expert Help with Mining Claim Staking
Geospatial company Darling Geomatics has decades of experience in the mining industry and can accurately and efficiently stake and mark mining claims for mineral exploration and mining purposes. We perform land status reviews, prepare claim notices and maps, and stake placer and lode claims (including mill sites) throughout the western United States. Our expert teams deliver turnkey services that will keep your project on budget and on time—assisting with research, guiding you through local, state and federal regulations, and staking your claim.
Other mining services from Darling Geomatics include:
- Site mapping and topographic surveys
- Boundary surveys
- Construction layout and verification
- Volume calculations
- Monitoring deformation and settlement
- Tunnel and shaft surveys
- Drill hole surveys
- GIS data management
- 3D modeling and visualization
- Aerial drone surveys
- Videos
- LiDAR surveys
- Safety and environmental compliance
- Data analysis and reporting
- Engineering grade deliverable
- Legal documentation
- Exploration and mine permitting
When it comes to safe, accurate, and efficient mine services, the experts at Darling Geomatics deliver.
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