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| Mining Frequently Asked Questions | ||||
Mineral title may be conveyed only with a valid discovery of a commercially profitable mineral deposit. Note: since October 1, 1994, Congress has imposed a moratorium on BLM accepting any new mineral patent applications. Contact the appropriate Bureau of Land Management (BLM) State Office, in the state in which you desire to locate a claim, for further information about filing locations within that State. Information, from location of claims to patenting of mining claims, is available for each respective state in all BLM State Office Information Access Centers . This information may be obtained upon request and without charge from any BLM State Office. E-mail the BLM Colorado State Office Information Access Center or phone 303-239-3600 for additional information.
Q. How do I locate a mining claim? Answer: 1. Before you can locate a claim, you must determine if the lands are open to location. You can find this out at any BLM office. No claims can be staked in areas closed to mineral entry under certain acts, regulations, or public land orders. BLM refers to these as withdrawn lands. The BLM Colorado State Office and field offices have appropriate land and mineral status maps and records for you to make this determination. 2. On lands open to location, you may prospect and properly locate claims and sites. If lands have already been claimed, you may want to find another location. The Colorado State Office maintains a record of these locations on their LR 2000 database. 3. If your parcel of land is open to location, the next step is staking the claim. Federal law specifies that claim boundaries must be distinctly and clearly marked to be readily identifiable. Colorado statutes have more detailed requirements for marking boundaries. For specific state requirements ask for Circular No. 3, available through the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology . 4. Recordation of mining claims -- location certificates for claims and sites must be recorded with BOTH the county recorder's office as well as the Colorado State Office of the BLM. Briefly, the state's deadlines for locations are:
BLM's deadlines for location are: ALL CLAIMS AND SITES - 90 days from date of location to record claims with the BLM Colorado State Office. 5. No specific form for location certificates is required, but the basic information can be found in Public Land Regulations at 43 CFR 3833.11. It can also be found in the circular Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Lands available through the Colorado State Office address below. Each location or site must be accompanied by a $15 non-refundable processing fee, a $30 refundable location fee, and the first year's maintenance fee payment of $125 for a total of $170. A separate location notice is required for each claim or site recorded. Fact Sheet for Waivers from Payment of Maintenance Fees For additional information, contact the Colorado State Office Information Access Center at 2850 Youngfield St. Lakewood, CO 80215-7093 or phone 303-239-3600, the Mining Law/Solid Minerals Adjudication Section at 303-239-3720, 303-239-3770 or the field office where your claim(s) is located. Q. What are the Governing Laws for mining? Answer: In 1872, congress passed the General Mining Law which stated that all un-appropriated lands were open to entry and purchase. In the ensuing 130 years it has been amended by acts of congress and interpreted by countless court decisions but is largely intact. Currently ores of metallic elements and uncommon varieties of non metallic deposits are available for entry and purchase under that act. Mining claims are located; therefore the term "locatable" mineral. The BLM Montana State Office has a good web site on claims and location procedures. The BLM Colorado State Office is where a mining claim would be filed in addition to the applicable county courthouse. The federal regulations that pertain to the location of mining claims are found in 43 CFR 3830. Federal regulations can now be viewed on line at the Government Printing Office site which also includes federal register notices. There is also a site that contains the federal register notice publishing the regulations. A good description of the forms and schedules for locating and maintaining mining claims can be found on the BLM Nevada site . Q. How can I learn more about unpatented mining claims? Answer: A record of unpatented claims is now available on line. All unpatented mining claim records can be reviewed at this site. It is recommended that the user look through the tutorial. This system was designed to accommodate records review across all public domain states. Certain procedures need to be used to identify a claim location or for pulling up reports. For example, Township 12 South would be listed as 0120S. Section 22 would be 022. Once a person picks up a few tricks like this, the system can provide up-to-date information on current and closed unpatented mining claims in BLM records. For the field office area you will also need to note whether the location is in the 6th principle meridian or the New Mexico principle meridian. If you need some basic familiarity with how the public land survey system, township and range, etc. go to this excellent BLM site called Geocommunicator. Q. How can I get mining claim patent information? Answer: BLM often receives requests for information about original patents on mining claims, some of this is from a historical perspective. The BLM is in the process of providing some of these patent records on line. This site provides information on various land patents. In order to do an effective search you will need to have some basic information such as location or the patent serial number. Patent records that are not online can be viewed and copied at the BLM Colorado State Office in Lakewood. All lode and many placer claims were surveyed prior to patent. These surveys are known as mineral surveys and records of these surveys are currently kept on microfiche. The BLM has a full set of these mineral surveys that can be viewed and copied for a fee. There are some sites that were surveyed but never patented and these are also in the records. Q. What are the regulations for locatable mineral mining and prospecting operations ? Answer: There are three levels of activity under the federal surface management regulations. A copy of the surface management regulations as published in 2001 are available for review. Casual use: No notification to the BLM is required but you must reclaim any casual use disturbance that you create. Casual use generally includes:
Casual use does not include:
It also does not include "occupancy'' as defined in Sec. 3715.0-5 of this title or operations in areas where the cumulative effects of the activities result in more than negligible disturbance. In some field offices, suction dredging and high banking are not classified as casual use because of this reason. For information about dredging and recreational placer mining click here. Notice Level: Generally notice level activity applies to exploration. Exploration means creating surface disturbance greater than casual use that includes sampling, drilling, or developing surface or underground workings to evaluate the type, extent, quantity, or quality of mineral values present. Exploration does not include activities where material is extracted for commercial use or sale. In the Royal Gorge Field Office, suction dredging and high banking are classified as notice level activities. Notice level activity is generally categorized as prospecting under the State Division of Minerals and Geology. A notice that is determined complete has a fifteen day BLM review period. Plan Level: This applies to any mining operation conducted under the authority of the mining law. From a state of Colorado perspective, an operator would need to provide either a 110 or 112 application depending upon the size of the operation. State/Federal Combined Permitting: In Colorado, processing and approval of exploration (prospecting) and mining plans is a joint effort with the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology (DMG). Reclamation bonds are held by the DMG but redeemable by the BLM. The BLM recommends that before submitting any notice or plan of operations to the agency that you initially contact either the BLM or the DMG for regulatory guidance. It is probable that you can submit the same paperwork to both agencies. The state regulations are also available on line. One other feature available through the DMG is a listing of all mining operations in the state including those operations that the BLM would categorize as locatable or salable. Q. Where can I find more information? Answer: Try these links for more mineral and mining information, or contact BLM Colorado State Office at 303-239-3600. Un patented Mining Claim Records Management of Locatable minerals mining and prospecting operations Small Scale Placer Mining
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