The rush is on, or so it seems!
We have multiple parties contacting us about lode claim
staking in the Rochford area. The catch is… most of the contacts are from
private property or existing claimholders!
Rumor has it that over 500 lode claims have been staked in
Pennington County alone. We’re starting to see evidence of that at
Montana-Dakota BLM’s website with 25-50 claims being added each day as they are
processed.
We have multiple lode claims and a placer in the area, not to
mention several people we have helped get claims. We’re keeping an eye on the
situation and invite anyone who is having problems to email us at hillshistory1876@gmail.com. We think as a group we might be able to
resolve some of these problems.
Here is just one of the many scenarios we have
encountered. In the area of the old
Standby Mine there are existing placer and lode claims. Most have been there for years; some added or
changed hands in the past few years. There’s also a lot of private property. We
are getting phone calls and emails from claimholders that their monuments and
location certificates are gone or in the case of private property their fences
have been crossed and new posts erected.
So far this activity is not contributed to a single mining
company, but small blocks of claims under individual names. Several blocks are
being staked at a time.
If you find a location certificate, jot down the name, address
and phone number of the claimant, date of location, filing dates at county and
BLM. If BLM has issued an MMC #, write that down too. It would also be of interest as to who
prepared the location, their address and phone number.
We haven’t seen any location certificates on the ground, only
boundary posts. That in itself is not the legal way to stake a claim.
Right now we’re just collecting data; this may lead to
nothing. We have an idea, however, that
as everything shakes out an exploration permit will be applied for and
eventually a mine developed.
Have not doubt, this area has huge lode mine potential. Geology
and history both prove it!
If you already have an existing claim, maintain it with
boundary posts and location certificates. We’re making a trip that way as soon
as possible to re-post locations and check that posts are in place.
Also, if you are a private property owner and don’t have
winter access to your property this time of year, drop us an email with the
legal description of your property and we will let you know if claims are being
filed over your property.
There are situations
where surface rights are owned but mineral rights are not. We can check that
too, but it should be clearly stated on your property title.
We also have had forwarded to us an article on Dakota
Territory acquiring more claims in the Northern Black Hills. This company has
already blanket claimed the area from Spearfish Canyon to Iron Creek Lake and
is now acquiring claims between Deadwood and Spearfish.
The news last week was that Tinton may have new owners, and that
operation hopes to resume. That isn’t a gold operation… at least right now!
Winter weather descends on us again, but its been an unusually
warm winter and we know we need snow!
The grandkids are all hoping for a “snow day” Friday! The phone rang at 5:30 this a.m.... wish granted!
