What to do?

What would you do?

There’s a popular TV series which poses scenarios and films reactions to test people in situations which should incite political correctness, well knowing that humans often “overlook“ what should be done and choose to show indifference.

We though it would be fun to share some scenarios regarding prospecting protocol and how people overlook so much of what should be done and choose to ignore or feign indifference.

Locating a mining claim is a dream for many and a task often performed with little research or care for what the law outlines as a necessity. We often pull locations certificates for research and find them lacking not only the required information but not meeting physical (on-site) requirements.

What would you do?

Federal law states: STAKING A CLAIM--Federal law specifies that claim boundaries must be distinctly and clearly marked to be readily identifiable. (Argument 1: We have direct feedback from Bureau of Land Management that many location certificates do not define corner and side markers; and we know from experience they are not often visible on the claim itself). Most states have statutes and regulations concerning the actual staking and recording of mining claims so claimants should refer to the appropriate state agency for additional requirements before locating a claim.

Prior to locating a claim, a prospector should check BLM records for prior recorded claims (Argument 2: The overwhelming evidence using BLM LR2000 shows a lot of overstaking, most of it on well established claims). Ultimately, the prospector must check for prior existing claim markings on the ground (as addressed in Argument 1).

Departmental decisions require a discovery on each claim, based on actual physical exposure of the valuable mineral within the claim boundaries. (Also, each 10 acres on a placer claim, after a discovery, must be mineral in character). (Argument 3: So you can‘t just locate a claim anywhere! Also, if for instance Sunset Valley Mining Co. staked an 80-acre claim and is selling it by 10-acre lots, legally they have to have proved discovery on each 10 acres., not just the original discovery. Wonder if that has happened?)

So what would you do? We’ve talked this over time and time again. There are literally hundreds of claim locations in the Black Hills which do not even come close to meeting federal guidelines not to mention state requirements.

The law does, however, protect those ignorant of the criteria in that “good faith effort” is recognized, meaning for instance that you put in monuments but grazing cattle, a snowmobile or a vandal destroyed it.
It seems to us that good faith is used as an excuse a lot around here… if you can find no sign of a monument; if there is no visible paper anywhere on the claim; if the location posted misrepresents the area in which it is posted… there’s a lot of “iffy” claims out there.

So back to our discussion. These claims are technically invalid. The catch is you may have to prove it in a court of law.

What would you do?