There are many reasons to buy a mining claim but perhaps the best reason is that it can significantly increase your chances of finding gold. Sure, in theory gold can be found anywhere, but specific geological conditions, rock formations, and the presence of gold already found significantly increase an area's chances of giving up more gold.

This is where mining claims come in. In order to file a mining claim, there has to be evidence that precious metals are found at the claim. Some states only require significant evidence of precious metals while other states require that you actually find gold on the claim before any paperwork can be filed.
You will also notice that many of the claims on this site have already produced some gold. This is a great sign that more gold is sitting in the ground, waiting to be found.

Of course, another reason to buy a mining claim is the pure convenience factor. If you're new to prospecting or aren't sure where to go, an already established gold or silver claim can greatly increase your chances of finding gold sooner. It takes time, knowledge, effort, and research to locate a good mining claim. Not to mention financial resources as well. Buying an already established metal claim takes a lot of the guess work (and hard work) out of the equation and gets you on the road to finding precious metals faster.

Good Prospecting!

This one is actually pretty easy once the terms are defined.  A patented mining claim means you own the underlying property along with mineral rights to that property.  And an unpatented mining claim means you don't own the property, just the mineral rights to prospect on that property.

It is entirely possible to purchase a parcel of land only to find out someone else owns the mineral rights (aka, a mining claim) to your land.  Be sure to do your research the next time you buy property!

With a patented mining claim, the land is yours and you can do what you want with it (within local regulations and ordinances).  This usually means you could build a house on the land, live there, raise animals, prospect, whatever.  Oh, you also “get” to pay property taxes every year.

With an unpatented mining claim, things are a little bit different.  Since you don't own the land, you can't build a house or live there.  But you also don't have to pay the property taxes.  In most states, you can camp on the land for a pre-determined length of time (usually two weeks) so long as you are prospecting.  I've known prospectors who go all summer on their unpatented mining claims.  They simply choose a new spot to camp every few weeks or have several claims in one area and rotate working on each of them.  Some states are more lenient than others so it helps to check with the local BLM office before making any plans for an extended stay on an unpatented mining claim.

While the main difference between an patented and unpatented mining claim is who owns the land, there is one thing in common for all mining claims: YOU own the mineral rights.  This means you are the only person who can prospect (or grant the right to others to prospect) for precious metals on that property.  It is illegal for others to remove precious metals from your mining claim without permission... even if the person doing it owns the property.

I hope this clears up the differences between patented and unpatented mining claims.  Stay tuned for more gold prospecting articles and be sure to check out our wide selection of claims for sale.

Good Prospecting!

A Lode mining claim is when the gold (or other precious metal) is still in the rocks and original minerals where it was formed. This is usually a gold bearing vein, or gold ore – where the gold may or may not be visible and is mixed in with other rocks and minerals. Sometimes gold can be chipped out of a gold vein but the most common form of recovery is to crush the metal ore and use an extraction technique to separate the precious metals. If you think you've found a lode claim, the first step is to take the ore samples to an assayer to test how much gold or other precious metals are in the rocks.

A Placer mining claim is the most common type of claim, and what most people think of when they think of a gold claim. This is where the gold has broken free of rock and minerals and can be found as flakes and nuggets. Placer gold starts out from a lode claim, where the gold is locked into the ground. Over time, erosion and the elements free the gold from other material and works its way down into the placer deposit as nuggets and flakes.

So now you know. In a lode claim, the precious metals are still stuck in the rock and may or may not be visible. And in a placer claim, the precious metals have been freed from their original state (due to the elements and erosion) and are much easier to recover.

Happy Prospecting!