gold mineral rights on BLM land

[Liquid]

I am curious if anyone has any experience with this, or any advise.

There's an opportunity to purchase gold mineral rights to 40 acres of BLM land, from an old mining operation. From what I gather, is that I would have full rights to prospect on this land. There's a stream running through it for panning, sluething, etc. However, I would not be able to build on the land. But, I could put an RV or trailer on it.

The plus, is that it's $4000 for the 40 acres. It's like purchasing a big campsite. A yearly fee to BLM is $170 a year, including property taxes. Those are the only costs involved. Full gold mineral rights.

The other plus, is that I am familiar with the area, it's less than 4 hours from where I live, and I have friends in the area that live fairly close to the claim.

So, the idea I have is to get into prospecting, get out of town a couple of times a month, fish, camp, shoot guns...and prospect for gold, and visit friends there too.

I am going to call the realtor on Monday for more info. What are your thoughts on this? Any specific questions I should ask the realtor?

[midnight rambler]

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. How many years does the 4k get you?

[Liquid]

Sounds like a pretty sweet deal. How many years does the 4k get you?


As long as BLM let's me, I suppose. I would own the mineral rights forever, as long as I pay the $170 a year BLM and property tax fees.

EDIT: That's a question I will definitely ask to confirm, for sure. According to the ad it's exclusive ownership of the rights. Thanks!

[Plastic]

And how much is the property tax on 40 acres there? Could cost you more every year than the claim itsself.

[midnight rambler]

Considering 99.999% of people in America falsely believe they actually own land when they really are renters, it sounds to me like a perfect bug-out retreat on the cheap.

[Liquid]

And how much is the property tax on 40 acres there? Could cost you more every year than the claim itsself.


The fees break down as follows, $140 to BLM for the rights each year. That amount isn't supposed to change. The property taxes are currently $30, on top of that. I don't know if that changes each year or not.

[Plastic]

The fees break down as follows, $140 to BLM for the rights each year. That amount isn't supposed to change. The property taxes are currently $30, on top of that. I don't know if that changes each year or not.



In that case it sounds perfect for a bug-out location, it sounded initially that it was 170.00 a year plus property taxes and I would "assume" that could have run into several thousands anually depending on the state.

[Liquid]

In that case it sounds perfect for a bug-out location, it sounded initially that it was 170.00 a year plus property taxes and I would "assume" that could have run into several thousands anually depending on the state.


I'm a little confused on the property taxes actually. BLM owns the land, I would just have exclusive rights to it. So how do they figure the property taxes, if any, would be $30?

Not complaining, but doesn't make too much sense. It must be taxes on the $4000 price of the gold rights, perhaps?

[Liquid]

I actually just spoke to the owner of the claim.

He purchased the whole claim, 160 acres, a couple of months ago. The whole 160 acres has been staked with trespassing signs prohibiting mining. He split it up into one 80 acre claim, one 40 acre claim, one 20 acre claim, and two 10 acre claims. He's selling them separately, for $1000 per 10 acres. Each claim has it's own section of the stream for exclusive use. All of them are currently for sale.

There's a road leading to a jeep road to the claims. The claims are about 2 miles up the jeep trail, and he says a 4x4 is needed to get up there.

The mineral rights are permanently owned and transferred through BLM. So, the claim could go up in value in the future, as an investment?

I may have to drive out there to take a look. It sounds very remote. The jeep road may hinder bringing up a trailer or RV however, depending upon how rough the road is.

[palani]

He is going to make more off his "claim" by selling it than you ever will finding mineral.

[gunDriller]

are you allowed to sub-lease ?

it seems to me like it would take a long time just to explore an acre.

do you have a topo you can post ?

[Liquid]

are you allowed to sub-lease ?

it seems to me like it would take a long time just to explore an acre.

do you have a topo you can post ?


I am going to head up tomorrow night and stay at my buddies place, and then explore this site on Monday. We are trying to pin point the exact location, but it looks like good gold country. It's in a good area.

I did learn a bit about gold claims. Apparently, it's almost like homesteading. Anyone can stake a claim, however most of the good claims are already taken. It takes a lot of research, so for the price of $1000 for 10 acres..if it's good land, it may be worth the cost.

Once you have a claim, it is almost like your land, except that you can't build on it. But, you can camp, shoot guns, fish, gold pan, enjoy the outdoors, etc.

If it's a good site gundriller, I'll let you know for sure. As far as subleasing, why not just buy part of the claim? There's several claims available. We can head up there and prospect. ;D

[mick silver]

why not see if you can buy the land for a few more bucks

[Fortyone]

why not see if you can buy the land for a few more bucks


Because Uncle Sugar wont sell it.

[hoarder]

It sounds like it's a mining claim. There are 2 kinds I know of; a patented mining claim and an unpatented mining claim. If it's a patented mining claim BLM has no rights to it whatsoever and the owner owns the land fee simple. If it's an unpatented mining claim, it is owned by control freaks (US Government) and what you can or cannot do is subject to their approval, which is only worthwhile if you are extracting valuable minerals from it.

Up until about 30 years ago you could go on federal land and if you found gold or silver you could file a claim, stake it out and if you proved your claim by following certain procedures (spend x number of hours extracting ores over a certain number of years, etc) you got clear title to the property (patented).

Unpatented mining claims are sometimes sold by "quit-claim deed", which is where the term originated.

If you own a patented mining claim, free and clear, you could sell the mineral rights off it just like any other land.

[Liquid]

Unpatented mining claims are sometimes sold by "quit-claim deed", which is where the term originated.


The quit-claim deed is how this particular land would be transferred, the mineral rights that is. Thanks for this informative post hoarder.

So BLM owns the land, but I would own the mineral rights. I wonder if it's possible to turn an unpatented claim into a patented claim. If I could mine the land and prove that gold was there, is it possible to own the land outright from BLM?

[hoarder]

So BLM owns the land, but I would own the mineral rights. An unpatented mining claim is not to be confused with common mineral rights. Your rights in an unpatented mining claim are stipulated in the patent....until they change the rules.
I wonder if it's possible to turn an unpatented claim into a patented claim. If I could mine the land and prove that gold was there, is it possible to own the land outright from BLM?
No. Never. Not since they changed things 30 years back. USFS and BLM are hostile to any adjacent lands they consider "inholdings". Even if you own a patented mining claim and the road is grown over, you have to apply for permission to maintain your road. Usually after a couple years wait you find out they won't grant permission.

[gunDriller]

Unpatented mining claims are sometimes sold by "quit-claim deed", which is where the term originated.


The quit-claim deed is how this particular land would be transferred, the mineral rights that is. Thanks for this informative post hoarder.

So BLM owns the land, but I would own the mineral rights. I wonder if it's possible to turn an unpatented claim into a patented claim. If I could mine the land and prove that gold was there, is it possible to own the land outright from BLM?


i think it helps if you're an Iran-Contra Alumnus !

one of the details of Bush 41's presidency was that, as one of his last acts before Clinton moved into the White house, George HW Bush gave a super sweetheart deal to Barrick Gold, on whose board sat Adnan Khashoggi, one of Bush 41's Iran-Contra co-collaborators.

Bush 41 sold a chunk of land in Nevada that was described in the news article as having a billion $ worth of gold - for $10K.


i guess a lot of miners have died and gone penniless because they chased the dream of "there's got to be gold in them thar hills".

i would think at this point that the most-hard-to-get-to deposits are the ones that have anything left, at least in most of the continental US.

so i would prep by preparing for a combination of walking on steep hill-sides, crawling through poison oak, etc.

i suppose dynamite helps too.

[BabushkaLady]

Hey Liquid, I had these same questions earlier this year . . .

link (http://gold-silver.us/forum/minting-refining-mining-panning/any-advice-for-buying-a-gold-claim/msg52295/#msg52295)

I also found out, you should be careful of the amount of water running in the creek, check into the recent rule changes regarding panning, dredging and sluicing. There seems to be a lot of claims up for sale lately.

If I were as close as you seem to be to, I'd do it in a minute. It's still a great past-time with some upside of colored flakes!

[Liquid]

Hey Liquid, I had these same questions earlier this year . . .


Yes, same exact questions. I apologize, if I had read your thread, I would have just added my questions to yours!

Did you purchase the claim? This claim has a decent year round creek. It's location seems perfect, about 10 miles outside a small town in Nor Cal. Close to some good friends. The BLM land area is almost surrounded by private property, so very few people would be going through the claim property, if any.

I would be using the land like you posted, for panning and sluicing, and camping. Also, as a bug out location, so I would not need to camp in Stackerken's front yard in a collapse scenario. ;D

If it wasn't raining I'd be on my way up there right now. My friend has a couple of quads that we can use to really explore the area, it should be a lot of fun. I'll know more in a couple of weeks.

[milehi]

I've been looking into this a bit more Liquid, and found dredging was banned in August of 2009 in California, but several sluice boxes would work on that creek.

[BabushkaLady]

Did you purchase the claim?


No, but it sure sounds a lot like the one you're looking at. I was so busy in the east this year, that I just got back out west in time for some early snow. That project would have to wait til next summer now. If you PM me we can compare locations on the claim. That would be interesting if it was the same one.