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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[Assembler]

hasnt been much useful info posted here for a long time. Infact there'S what two to three members posting gold or any real prospecting activities.

Most of the people who used to post here moved on to similar forums. That still have people actually posting finds and tips.

we arent allowed to link to them though.

so IYKYK

The cycle of people is normal.

Almost all forums have some posts posting mining activates or as you point out "prospecting activities".

Anyone can research the other links you point out.

What is considered useful info is up to the reader or some prefer to watch movie clips.

 

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[Clay Diggins]

Of course we updated the Land Matters Mining Claim Maps. We've been doing that twice a month for more than 9 years now. For free!

Go get U sum!

 

[Clay Diggins]

Yep - updated the Land Matters Mining Claim Maps again yesterday.

 

[Clay Diggins]

For the few miners that haven't yet moved on from TNet - Land Matters updated their Mining Claim Maps yesterday, just as they have done twice a month for 10 years.

Heavy Pans

 

[Goldwasher]

For the few miners that haven't yet moved on from TNet - Land Matters updated their Mining Claim Maps yesterday, just as they have done twice a month for 10 years.

Heavy Pans

too bad BLM site is not populating reports today.....

 

[Goldwasher]

Almost forgot some may not want to talk and share this kind of information here........ooops.

RUNNING A REPORT...when it finishes it is populated.
there was a bug so the other day they were not working.
As of yesterday. When i run a report it populates.

Thanks for once again sharing a bunch of gibberish. That has nothing to do with what we are actually trying to discuss.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Land Matters updated their Mining Claim Maps again.
Land Matters has the only mining claims maps that provide twice monthly updates and mining claimant names. The price is right too - free.

In the last two weeks there were 3,322 new mining claims located. If you want to see the new claims just select the "New Claims" map layer and the new claims will be highlighted. Another exclusive Land Matters feature.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Sure enough Land Matters updated their Mining Claim Maps in time for your weekend adventures.

Go get U sum!

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Sure we updated the Land Matters Mining Claims Maps yesterday.

There have been 3,313 new mining claims located in the last two weeks. You can see where those new claims are located by clicking on the "New Claims" map layer found on every mining claim map.

There were 368 mining claims closed in the last two weeks.

It's still out there. Go get U sum!

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Of course we've updated the Land Matters Mining Claim Maps. The most up to date claims mapping twice a month.

We've also added a new mapping layer to the Land Matters Mining Claim Maps. You will find the new layer under the "Claims" mapping group on every mining claim map. It's named "Mining Claim Fees Paid". The mining claim maps start without the new layer displaying so you will need click the checkbox next to the layer name to begin using this map layer.

This new map layer shows the total amount of maintenance fees paid to the BLM for each Section since annual Maintenance fees were begun in 1993. These fee totals are for annual maintenance only and do not include filing or locating fees or the costs associated with State recording fees. Mining bonds and permit expenses are not included.
Each Section that has had claims during the period from 1979-2024 are represented in green on the map. The more fees that have been paid for the section the darker the green. Some sections may have $0 in fees paid yet show several claims. These are Sections where all claims were closed before the maintenance fees began in 1993.
As you zoom in the amount of fees paid will be displayed in the section. In this example the Fees Paid are displayed between the normal active mining claims display.

To get Information at any zoom level you can select the

information tool and click on your area of interest will return a window with the number of claims and the total of fees paid in that section.

As with all our mining claim maps the current or prior existence of mining claims does not mean that the area is now open to new mining claims.

---

What are annual maintenance fees?​

Until 1993 all Mining Claims were held by completing a minimum of $100 worth of development work per claim per year. This was known as the mining claim labor requirement. If you didn't perform work on your mining claim each year before 1993 they became invalid.
In 1993 Congress, at the request of the BLM, enabled claim owners to pay an annual fee of $100 instead of completing their annual claim development work. This brought in funds to the BLM to administer the program as well as relieving them of their responsibility to check existing mining claims for evidence of development work. No longer did the BLM need to do field work to administer mining claims.
Since 1993 the annual claim fees have risen to $165 per year for each Lode claim and $165 per 20 acres for each placer claim. Placer claim fees can be as much as $1,320 per claim.
Unlike other government programs the mining claim case administration system at the BLM is entirely supported by claim owner fees. These annual mining claim maintenance fees are paid directly to each BLM State office to offset the costs associated with administrating the mining claim case files. No public monies are used.
Here are the totals by State of mining claim fees paid for the years 1994 - 2023

• Arizona $507,229,955
• California $385,681,600
• Colorado $380,865,975
• Idaho $307,600,865
• Montana. $224,791,660
• Nevada $1,523,212,855
• New Mexico $190,491,505
• Oregon $99,909,290
• South Dakota $107,769,290
• Utah $556,540,015
• Washington. $53,075,435
• Wyoming $468,886,230
  

  ---

  Total $4,806,054,675

Nearly 5 Billion dollars have been spent by mining claim owners to support BLM mining claim administration.
The BLM is now collecting more than 83 million dollars in mining claim maintenance fees each year.
Heavy Pans

 

[russau]

All that money spent by the claim owners and they still want to make your life H*** ! Remember back when Clinton / Gore was in office and informed ALL the Greenie groups to apply for jobs for the Department of the Interior (and ONLY the GREENIE Groups ) and they loaded up these departments with GREENIES and now we must contend with these greenies interpretations of what they believe the rules and regulations "should " say or mean ,the way they think !! And how do you think they use or spend that money ? Take a wild guess !!!! Why do you think we have such a problem with how we Mine & Prospect ! The United States has the strictest mining /environmental laws in the World YET we are the most hounded for how and what we do that improves life for all because of what we bring to the table from our efforts ! SORRY for the RANT but just look at the logic here about this !

 

[Clay Diggins]

Of course we updated the Land Matters Mining Claim Maps this week.

Twice a month for the last 10 years these maps have been updated. We don't track your mapping like the government and google do. 100% uptime on the Land Matters website every day for 10 years.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Land Matters Mining Claim Maps are still updated twice a month. In this half month 2,645 new mining claims were located, you can see those new claims highlighted on the mining claims maps. On average about 5,000 new mining claims are located each month. That sounds like a lot of claims, and it is, but when compared with a total of 546,721 currently active mining claims maybe not so much?

Looking inside Land Matters operations It's been a bit more difficult to keep the mining claims updated these past few years because the BLM has been experiencing multiple failures in their new MLRS mining claims database. The updates are scheduled for the first and third Sunday of each month but the BLM has only been able to meet that schedule about 70% of the time this year due to database failures. Land Matters is an all volunteer non profit, Our volunteers sometimes are changing their schedules every few days to fit the BLM's constantly changing schedule.

For example this last report period data was supposed to be available on Monday the 17th. No data was available and our email went unanswered. The following day we got a notice the data wouldn't be available until Wednesday due to technical problems. Wednesday was a federal holiday so the report was delayed again until Thursday.

Despite the problems with the BLM database Land Matters continues to grow. We've introduced several new maps and added features to others this year. We consistently rank in the top 1% of websites worldwide. We almost double the number of users every year. It's not uncommon to have several hundred users making maps at any given moment. We do it all with volunteers and small individual donations. We don't track users or sell advertising so Land Matters really is all about it's users. If users continue to donate time and money Land Matters will remain free to the public. If they don't Land Matters will go away, we have no intent to ever sell out or go to a paid system.

This is Land Matters 10th year providing free research materials to the public. That success really comes down to our user's support - this is your success story. Thanks for making that possible.

Heavy Pans

 

[russau]

THANKYOU CLAY for all your support and enlightenment that you have provided over the years !

 

[Clay Diggins]

Yep! We did it again yesterday. Land Matters Mining Claim Maps were updated in time for the weekend.

There were 2,154 new claims located in the last two weeks. Colorado suddenly showed a bunch of new claims and in Oregon 5 30+ year old placer claims were closed.

It's going to be a great weekend for prospecting for whatever you seek. Go get U sum!

Heavy Pans

 

[Lanny in AB]

Clay, you really are the dedicated best of the best!

All the best to you,

Lanny

 

[detectorcowboy]

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

Sweet, we can always use the books, graph, maps & paper for bedding & lighting campfires

 

[Clay Diggins]

Sweet, we can always use the books, graph, maps & paper for bedding & lighting campfires

I wouldn't start that fire just yet.

Land Matters has been up and providing land mapping free for 10 years with only 10 minutes of downtime. The BLM also provides land mapping for the last year but they are down a lot. Every night and often for hours or days.

Land Matters depends on four things to keep providing land mapping to the public. Volunteers, a map server, open public data and user donations. If we run out of volunteers, are cut off from public data or users don't contribute the minimal funds needed to keep Land Matters online it goes away.

I'll let you imagine what might cause the government to take down the MLRS land mapping. The MLRS is the third version of BLM land mapping - the two previous mapping systems were shut down without notice or an explanation to this day why they were removed. Both those BLM mapping systems continued to receive funding after they were closed to the public.

Both Land Matters and the BLM rely on a working internet. Once the internet is gone - no more free mapping. If you think that will never happen ask the folks in Pakistan today (all internet in the country was shut off yesterday) or just look at today's news - sloppy coding by a "security" company shut down Microsoft and most public services worldwide. We live in interesting times.

Hang on to those maps and books they could be very valuable!