We are contacted from time to time for information on the establishment and location of mining claims on government land.  There is still unclaimed land out there, and the mineral rights are available for industrious miners.  With the the increasing value of gold, I expect to see more interest in local mining claims.  This link will take you to the BLM website and provide information on the process of establishing, recording and maintaining a mineral claim.  (How to Establish a mining claim) Claims are described as to location but generally not surveyed and the actual sideline location may require substantial effort. This has naturally resulted in some bitter disputes over mine ownership.

One thing to note is that a mining claim is for mineral rights.  It does not convey title to the underlying ground.  Building a structure on an unpatented claim simply for recreation or purposes other than mining is illegal.  All buildings, equipment, fences, signs, roads, any man made changes on the mining claim, must be reasonably incident to mining.  To build on a gold mining claim, you must first obtain a permit from the federal agency managing the surface, for example, the USFS or BLM.

In bygone years we have met up with quite a few old-timers who treated their claims like private property to the point of repelling hikers, trespassers and surveyors at shotgun point.  These crusty sourdoughs, with their tar-paper shacks and rusty tractors are disappearing as the years go by, but when we discover a well defended claim with a string of rattle-snake skins tied to an old snag, or a skull and crossbones painted on a rock, we are careful.  Shotguns are very convincing.