Many Mining Claim Closures

[Clay Diggins]

For the last two years the BLM had CLOSED many thousands of mining claims on one day. These claims are the "Abandoned and Forfeited" mining claims that didn't file their annual requirement.

Last year the BLM closed 28,340 claims on November 17th.
The previous year the BLM closed 20,704 claims on November 17th.
At present there are 29,069 mining claims in the BLM database that are marked as not having paid their annual fees.

Land Matters members have been receiving updates and maps on these claims scheduled for closure for the last month. If the past MLRS system is followed this year there will be more than 20,000 claims closed tomorrow. Those claims will be removed from the Land Matters Mining Claim Maps next week with our new claims update. Land Matters Claims Advantage Members will get a map of those closed claims for their use. A smart prospector might find these closed claims maps useful.

Heavy Pans

 

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[Assembler]

There are some people at the BLM that prefer to obstruct mining despite their mission to enable mining. There may be some of that in this snafu. I do see where much older claims seem to be over represented in this closure.

All in all I think this problem and most of the other past problems with the MLRS are due to incompetence and a total lack of knowledge of mining law on the part of the company hired to create and run the MLRS database. We are talking about a bunch of young San Francisco residents working for Salesforce. Just a quick view of their website and you will see that cute cartoon figures are the theme.

Congress may not require more then this now as funding is reduced.
There is no obstruction going on yet, just expect some issues to be sorted out by the Courts.

 

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[Assembler]

Can any "Cases" be shown about "Obstruction"?

Discouraging is not the same as "Obstruction".

 

[GoldenGringo]

More then likely the previous owner has had enough hard work.

It might be just coincidence but… 1/2 of the closed claims I was able to pick up since September 2023 had claimants who were easily found in obituary database searches… deceased. My guess is COVID. They were 65+ and had been paying annual assessment fees or filing a small miner waiver for decades.

 

[Clay Diggins]

There were 31,434 mining claims closed last year. I seriously doubt many of those claims were closed because the owners died. The vast majority of mining claims are owned by corporations.

The old "Lost Dutchman" LDMA claim where you have located a new claim, had one of their original locators die in 1993 but miraculously they continued to file their annual papers for another 20+ years.

 

[GoldenGringo]

There were 31,434 mining claims closed last year. I seriously doubt many of those claims were closed because the owners died. The vast majority of mining claims are owned by corporations.

The old "Lost Dutchman" LDMA claim where you have located a new claim, had one of their original locators die in 1993 but miraculously they continued to file their annual papers for another 20+ years.

Interesting! I’ve heard that hardcore miners can be pretty die-hard souls and manage to continue working their claims from the netherworld!

On a more serious note, I actually wasn't referring to nor including the Lost Dutchman claim in my post.

Also, I’m just now finding out about the different products and services Land Matters has to offer and I’m impressed! Especially that “closed mining claim” database file I read about on another thread. I’m definitely going to be sending some money your way later this week.

One more thing; Did you used to run MinerDiggings? Do you know if the Rich Hill and Gold Basin “Footprints” products are still available to purchase and if they offer any advantage to LandMatters’ services/products aside from the ability to access data without an internet connection? Thanks Clay!

 

[bc5391]

Interesting! I’ve heard that hardcore miners can be pretty die-hard souls and manage to continue working their claims from the netherworld!

On a more serious note, I actually wasn't referring to nor including the Lost Dutchman claim in my post.

Also, I’m just now finding out about the different products and services Land Matters has to offer and I’m impressed! Especially that “closed mining claim” database file I read about on another thread. I’m definitely going to be sending some money your way later this week.

One more thing; Did you used to run MinerDiggings? Do you know if the Rich Hill and Gold Basin “Footprints” products are still available to purchase and if they offer any advantage to LandMatters’ services/products aside from the ability to access data without an internet connection? Thanks Clay!

Clay would know better than myself, but I think you are only allowed to file the small miners waver on x number of claims, after that you pay the full amount, it adds up fast. so for 1 man working with hand tools, you have to move quite a bit of dirt to make them pay for your investment.

 

[GoldenGringo]

Clay would know better than myself, but I think you are only allowed to file the small miners waver on x number of claims, after that you pay the full amount, it adds up fast. so for 1 man working with hand tools, you have to move quite a bit of dirt to make them pay for your investment.

Yes, there’s a 10 claim limit for each small miner fee waiver