Prospectors Research Tools

[Clay Diggins]

Prospector's Research Tools

I haven't been around much this summer and with the desert prospecting season just starting it's a good time to show off what I did this long hot summer. I have been working with a few friends on a new non-profit organization to give you a single place for all your land research.

The result is MyLandMatters.Org. This is the gateway to your land information repository. Maps, books, tutorials, community resources and quality, easy-to-access information about the land around you.

No ads, No memberships, No log-in required.

This past spring while sitting around with some friends we came to the conclusion that most of the important and useful things that we want to know about the land around us was difficult to locate and tough to understand. Despite the many sources of information there was no single place to find the information available.

We decided we could do something about that. We agreed to put our time and energy into creating a single place that anyone could find the answers to questions about the land.

It's a big project. It has taken a lot of work, learning and resources to get things started. But after six months of long days, and more than a few nights, the Land Matters repository is ready for you to use.

Land Matters is all about the land. You can find Land Status Maps, Active Mining Claims Maps (with live direct links into the current LR2000 claims database), A great collection of mining books, Land Laws, Geology books and maps, Forest Travel Plans and a whole lot more.

Land Matters is for land users. Our collections are guided by community input. That's you. Let us know what kind of material you would like to find in our Library or a particular map you would like to see. Help us build Land Matters to best serve the community.

We've already got a lot of things that prospectors have been asking for - the claims maps alone were almost universally requested. Land Matters isn't just for prospectors and miners. But you can help prioritize our efforts and drive the content of Land Matters. Prospectors now have a unique opportunity to help guide and build an information resource designed by prospectors and for prospectors.

We are just getting started filling the Library but there will be hundreds of books, maps and items added in the next few weeks. We've even got a Newsletter so you can get regular updates about new additions to the Land Matters repository.

Check it out and let me know what you think. Here are a few good places to start:

Tutorials - the current focus is on understanding Land Status.
Maps - We all like maps and we've got some you will love.
Library - search for something.

Heavy Pans
Barry & Leigh

 

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[fowledup]

Barry why not close down the Mining section to a subscrption access only. Would that pay the bills and keep the lights on? You all could charge $25 annual user fee, very reasonable for what you get. I figure we are using it to make ourselves more prosperous in our endeavors, I'd gladly pay it as I know it's worth every cent.

 

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[Asmbandits]

Thanks fowledup and clay, I was aware of most of what you both said about obtaining a copy of the location notice being the ultimate say just wanted to know how the blm referenced locations when running lr2000. I dismissed the blm saying It was open to entry as I knew there was more to it and they were overlooking something , the acreage just did not add up.. Thanks for the clarification, it would make so much more sense to me if blm at least include all sections filed on the location notice, would save a lot of people time and be much more accurate.. When looked at on a map it's very deceiving as the section is all alone, but lr2000 sheds light on the acreage and at least now I know I need the location notice or just stay away from there which at this point I'm thinking we'll be the case. I bet lots of folks just go off of the section not realizing there's much more to it, owning claims myself I want to make sure in I'm not one of those people!

 

[okbasspro]

Sorry I've been missing here. I've been doing the work it takes to make a living and the Land Matters stuff had to take a back seat for awhile. I too have been surprised by the lack of support for Land Matters. We've got several strong supporters on TNet like AzViper, SLnugget, fowledup, Maitland, BurntBear, okbasspro, Bejay, delnorte and about a dozen other great folks. It's not just about money either, Chrisski has been doing some wonderful research work that will make some important information and maps possible in the near future. A big thank you to all the Land Matters supporters! Despite a great group of supporters right here on TNet the numbers just don't add up. Last month was our busiest yet. Nearly a third of a million hits and 60 Gb of data were served. At any given time there are several people using the maps and library. Even at 2 am there are at least 4 people using the maps at the same time. We've got a lot of Land Matters users compared to the number of supporters. As long as Land Matters has enough support to keep the servers online I'll be donating my time and money to bring more information to Land users. If we could just get a little bit more than what it takes to pay the bills we could bring you a lot more information. In an effort to bring you more information Land Matters is looking for enough funds for: [*]Video software so we can create more tutorials. $100 [*]4 more Terabytes of disk storage. (We've already maxed out the 4+ donated Terabytes we've got set aside for Land Matters) $180 [*]DVD master burner. $40 [*]A computer. Land Matters doesn't have it's own computer so it's been borrowing processing time from MinerDiggins computers. We just received a donation of a new 27" monitor (thanks Dylan!) but we need a computer to go with it. $650 If you can help out with a donation of money, equipment or time it would be greatly appreciated by myself, the folks at Land Matters and the million plus Land Matters users. If you can't donate please feel free to continue to use Land Matters resources. The whole point of Land Matters is to give you free easy access to information about the land. Hopefully Land Matters will be there for future generations of Land users to rely on. Heavy Pans Barry

Clay if you still need the software I'll step to the plate and pony up. Just shoot me a email.

Come on people for the cost of a pan you can support a great resource to the outdoor community.

 

[theseeker]

Barry, just made a donation on your site, don't need another pan now anyway. Just visited your site for the third time, watched the video tutorial and got into the map section. I was looking at an area that I want to prospect and wanted to verify any claims in the area. Got the information I needed. The Land Matters website is a great resource not just for miners but for anyone that wants to explore the great outdoors. Looking forward to exploring your site and the information there much more. Many thanks to you and everyone involved in your website!

 

[Clay Diggins]

Thanks for the support everyone!

You are welcome theseeker. Thanks for the donation!

Fowledup thanks for the suggestion. I'm just a volunteer at Land Matters but I can tell you all suggestions do get consideration. Charging for access is an option but we hope to keep Land Matters all about easy access to public information. Are there others here that would prefer a pay per use option as opposed to free access funded by contributions?

Let us know what we can do to make Land Matters more useful for you. Land Matters is really all about the users. You can make a difference by contributing money, time or ideas. It all adds up to a bigger, more useful Land Matters.

Heavy Pans

 

[Oregon Viking]

I 'am going to Ebay some stuff. Not great stuff...but it might bring a few bucks. Stuff I don't really need. I will donate all proceeds to Land Matters.

 

[Clay Diggins]

More State Geology Maps!

I'm still on track to get every State's geology map up and working. We host this information on the Land Matters servers so it's always available. As we get the time each State geology map will get more features. Each State has different information available so each map will grow in complexity in it's own direction over time.

New State Geology Maps available:

Ohio
Kansas
Vermont
Minnesota
Mississippi
Massachusetts

We've got a new United States Geology Search Map almost finished as well as an ongoing special project almost ready for release. Coming Soon!

Heavy Pans

 

[Maitland]

I guess I'll chime in: I really appreciate the fact that Land Matters is free to use, and I think you folks have done an outstanding job on putting together such a resourceful website. I'm not trying to "toot my own horn" but I have donated a little in the past and plan on donating some more in time to come according to what my finances allow. I will say that I'm kind of surprised at how slow the donation graph/bar has been to rise, I thought the goal of $3,000 would have surely been met by now. Personally, I'd like to see Land Matters stay free, or at least go to being sponsorship-based as opposed to a fee-based system, but I understand it's not exactly cheap to keep a website like that going, especially with all the maps constantly being generated. I'm sure there are some who would like to donate but can't afford to, and some who can afford to but don't feel obligated enough to do so. I will add (hopefully without sounding demanding in any way) that there are more things I'd like to see on Land Matters, but I'm not sure if the data exists out there for it to be published on Land Matters. I look forward to seeing the site expand as time goes on regardless of what kind access it consists of. I probably should have elaborated a little more here in my post, but it's been a long day for me and I need to get to bed!

 

[Clay Diggins]

Thanks Maitland. Your support is appreciated!

Get some sleep and share those ideas here when you have the time.

Heavy Pans
Barry

 

[fowledup]

I think it is a great tool for everyone and hope that schools have started using it as an educational tool as well, which is why I suggested closing just the mining claims section to subscription. We that use that section the most are doing so with the intent to help us find a claim and make some money, only fair that we pay a little for all we get. Keeping the rest of the site open to the public stays true to your original goal of providing the largest and best free access to public land info. It is amazing what you've achieved in such a short time.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Given the high user traffic I wonder if you could sell advertising for decent $$?

 

[Clay Diggins]

Given the high user traffic I wonder if you could sell advertising for decent $$?

Besides slowing down the site advertising would require allowing user tracking Kevin. There is good money to be had there but I personally find the tracking of people seeking knowledge repulsive.

Luckily Land Matters has a policy of never tracking their users.

Land Matters does have a map sponsorship program that several businesses are supporting. Not advertising but just a way to show support for Land Matters and get a little name recognition. We are working on developing sponsorships more on Land Matters.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

New High Resolution US geology Quads and Folios!

If you've been looking for better Geology for your area we just bumped up the possibilities big time.

The new US Geological Index Map brings you 1,784 USGS Geologic Quad maps and 227 USGS Geologic Folio downloads with just a click on the map.

The USGS Geologic Folios are high resolution geologic surveys with extensive reports on the results of the survey.
These detailed geologic reports were done between 1894 and 1945 and include the much sought after, and requested, California Motherlode folios.
Each folio includes topographic and geologic maps and extensive reports for the studied quadrangle. Many of these contain very useful maps of the economic geology of the studied region.

The more recent USGS Geologic Quadrangles are detailed geologic maps depicting areas of special importance to the solution of geologic problems. These high resolution geology maps usually cover either 7.5 minute or 15 minute areas.

These maps and reports, especially the Folios, are quite large so plan on having some time set aside before you download if you are on a slower connection.

All of these Geologic resources are also available for download from our Land Matters Geology Library.

These maps and reports should bring you some good insight to your area of interest. I've spent years pouring over these resources. We spent a lot of time creating this map. I hope you find these maps and reports as valuable as I have.

Heavy Pans

 

[kayakpat]

I am just exploring your site, it is a great idea to build on a site like that

 

[goldenIrishman]

Hehehe.... soon as I get back into town Barry! I'll be checking out the Kingman area for sure. Also need to email you some questions but a real pita on this phone.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Hehehe.... soon as I get back into town Barry! I'll be checking out the Kingman area for sure. Also need to email you some questions but a real pita on this phone.

Save the banwidth. I checked and the nearest new geology to you is south at Signal Peak and North at Valentine. If you don't know where those are don't worry about the geology.

Signal Peak has some good gold but it's tough to get to and it's not open to mineral entry.

Email when you get a keyboard.

Heavy Pans
Barry

 

[Clay Diggins]

I 'am going to Ebay some stuff. Not great stuff...but it might bring a few bucks. Stuff I don't really need. I will donate all proceeds to Land Matters.

Thanks Oregon Viking. Even little bits help, this isn't a high dollar organization so we really appreciate whatever anyone can do to keep us up and running.

We've been selling some of our mining and geology books on eBay to help pay the bills too. Doesn't bring in a lot of money but it helps.

Heavy Pans
Barry

 

[Clay Diggins]

Land Matters is working on a system to integrate our mining claims maps with the BLM's LR2000 database. If we are successful you will be getting daily claims updates! The BLM is all for this project so we might finally be able to keep you as current as possible.

There may be some glitches as we reorganize and build new databases. Some claims maps might be slow to load intermittently over the next few weeks but in the long run you will have much more current claims information.

Please bear with us as we build this new system.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Arizona Mining Claims Maps Updated!

Land Matters Arizona Mining Claims Map is current as of April 15th.

The rest of the Public Land states will follow very soon!

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Mining Claims Maps Updated!

All of the Land Matters BLM LR2000 Mining Claims Maps are now updated to April 15th 2015!

Very little change overall from last month. Of all the BLM LR2000 Mining Claims there were:

2710 fewer claims of all types

15 more placer claims

2768 fewer lode claims

41 fewer Millsite Claims

2 fewer Tunnel Site Claims

Heavy Pans