Black Hills gold rush...

       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!