Old (closed) Claims are an excellent place to look for gold ...

Hi.

The following information is regarding US Gold Claims, there may be something similar for other countries, I hope so.

Im sure youve all heard the ol saying that "Gold is where you find it."

One way of finding out where its been found in the past is to check out the Bureau of Land Management,

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to see where claims have been made.
Obviously you cant look for gold on an active claim so please respect any active claims you may find but there are tons of expired or past claims around the United States.

In order to strike a gold claim, be it a lode (veins of gold) claim or placer (surface gold or gold which has migrated from its origin), gold must be found in this location. So unless the person who made that claim got it all (which I can assure you they did not) then gold can be found on and around those old claims.

Expired claims are a great resource for finding more gold.

The nice thing is that placer gold keeps replenishing itself. Erosion which is constant keeps bringing it out of its hiding places and concentrating it in gullies, streams, rivers and low areas. Water and wind play a large role in freeing this gold.

If you check out the history via the BLM claim maps you will find that a lot of these old claims are quite old and are from the time before (good) metal detectors. Any claims in the 1970s, for example are prime locations to go nugget shooting or panning. The areas have surely replenished the placer which has since been freed from mother earth by now, in fact, every year it tends to accumulate from fall, winter and spring flooding and harsh weather.

So find gold where its been found before, do your research, just as you would for other metal detecting, the more you know the more likely you are to find gold. Old, expired claims are a great place to start.

Good Luck to you, once you get the fever its all over ... you never get rid of it.

AW

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The link above is to the Geocommunator  (The BLM claims map site)
If you pick on an area of the map you can keep zooming in.
Select "Mining Claims" in the little box on the upper right.
Under the "Layers" tab, select what you want to show.
I usually select "Closed Mining Claims"

If you look along the top navigation bar, you can enter the place (start by entering your County.
Or just keep clicking to zoom in (be patient, it takes a while to load the map)

Using the Geocommunicator is an excellent to find gold where gold has been found before.

Its such a useful tool if you take the time to get to the area you want, turn on the layers that you want and turn off the layers that you dont want.

Just make sure that you select "Mining Claims" instead of Gas & Oil in the little box in the upper right.

I didnt see any old claims at first glance but you have to zoom way in and change the map type and other options on the right panel if it helps.

Good luck and enjoy!!!

Dave
AW

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http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,8166.msg51156.html#msg51156

		Quote:			Posted by jetmac
	That is an awesome site!!! I didnt know that existed. Is it possible to claim a closed claim? Is each claim for just gold or were they for other minerals as well, i didnt see anything that would tell what type of mineral was being mined.

I am not in the US so these matters do not have a direct bearing on my...... adventures, but I have a question:

Can you go  where you want on BLM concerned lands, where these gold finds have been or is access permission required?

In BC, if the property is not currently held by an individual(s) or a company, it is freely open to access, and one good place to detect is old hydraulic workings. Quite often nuggets were missed, in clean-up, and since most sites were never restored, to pre-mining condition, bedrock is showing or very shallow covered.

It is called *no digging included,* like the battery saying.

So I guess I am suggesting old hydraulic sites, if you can find them.

goldigger


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http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,8166.msg55267.html#msg55267

		Quote:			Posted by Idaho Jones
	BLM Bureau of Land Management ground is public owned land Certain actions might be restricted such as offroad vehicles, hunting, dredging in some areas, but usually this land is open for use. One must aquire a plan of record for any major actions. Many of the major gold bearing rivers are closed to dredging for wildlife concerns Old claims that are not kept current revert to open status. Years ago people could patent a claim on public land and gain ownership but this hasn't been granted for many years so it's more like renting, if you pay you stay if you don't you won't   Many of the mines in my corner of the world were most active from the late 1800s to the 1930s, although a few stayed active even up to today, Many claims have been reopened with the current price of gold and a lot of missed gold can be gleaned from the old tailings and dredge piles

OK, that clears up a few misconceptions I have been getting, from a certain magazine. It seems much more like here.

We used to have a system called *Crown Grants,* where one could apply for a grant and it was good for ever! As long as one paid taxes and stayed alive, specific work was no longer a yearly requirement, or any work at all!. It could be passed on to heirs, but sometimes that got fouled up, too.

There are a few crown grants still in existence but not many. The practice was ended in the50s, I think.

goldigger

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http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,8166.msg55496.html#msg55496

didn't know blm had that site either

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http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,8166.msg55566.html#msg55566

Thank you for this info!

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