Mega gold and other fairy tales

Once upon a time…

         Isn’t that how all good stories begin?  We definitely have a wile e. coyote; but I guess that crosses over into cartoon land!

        We quite often refer to claim jumpers,
mostly in the context of recreational panning
in ignorance of the law.  We recently ran across
a much more serious situation.

        We find claims for people; a lot of them friends and family.  Last fall we chanced upon a large claim on some historically proven ground.  A group of eight claimants acquired this land for a very small fee; in October staked the claim, filing with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in December.

        We helped them out to make sure all the proper paperwork was filed, and in December we announced on our website congratulations for a claim secured on North Rapid Creek.  The claim totaled 160 acres for 8 claimants.

        We’re always keeping an eye on all of our claims, and in doing so noticed that a claim by the name of Mega Gold had been located in January over the top of this parties’ North Rapid Placer. 

        The claim, as registered at BLM, was listed under several holding companies, most of them using botanical names such as Buttercup, Lilac, etc.  Further research showed a connection to a Minnesota company by the name of Sunset Valley Mining Company.

        We notified the claimholders and advised them of the situation that we had found.  Their North Rapid Placer was listed for sale on the internet as Mega Gold, located on Rapid Creek in the Black Hills!  The claim is divided into 10-acre parcels ranging in price from $9000 to $20,000.

        At least our friends know they got their monies’ worth! 

        The website also claims they test panned out a 2-ounce nugget; that this claim is along Rapid Creek and fully accessible by the Rochford Road.  We’ve seen their map, which places the claim exactly on top of the North Rapid Placer.  The Mickelson Trail does run through the claim, but that trail is for non-motorized vehicles.  There is a lot of misinformation in the advertisement, not to mention misleading photos, so we’re warning you to be careful when shopping for a claim.

        We’ve done further research on this company and notice a lot of complaints registered with the Gold Prospectors of America, the U.S. Forest Service and BLM.  Our friends also registered a complaint with IC3s and hired an attorney to notify the company.

        Beware… this company holds claims in South Dakota, California, Oregon and Montana.  A little research has already shown their claims to be questionable at best.  Mention is made of several lawsuits pending in various locations!

        Do you recall a previous blog cauctioning prospectors how rare it is to find “visible” gold in a creek?  Part of the legal paperwork demands return of that 2-ounce nugget from a test pan!  This reminds me of the publicity of the first gold rush to the Black Hills:  “gold for the pickin!’”

        Twenty-five years of recreational prospecting… and we were fools enough to hold down jobs to make a living!