Last Post 05 Jun 2017 05:14 PM by  William Hall
California mining claim access
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Mark Salvo
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05 Jun 2017 09:49 AM

    I am sorry if this has been asked or discussed already, i tried searching for this subject and did not find anything.

     

    I have recently established a mining claim on Camp Creek in El Dorado County, California.  It is a 40 acre claim which has about 2500 ft of river that runs through it.  There is only one access to the claim currently which comes off a dirt forestry road.  It looks as though the previous claim owner went to some lengths to try and camouflage the access by winding the tiny access road through trees which then leads to a beautiful campsite. The problem has been that the last two weekends i have gone up there i have found the campsite occupied.  The campsite is the only established access to the claim at this time.  I have gone to the trouble of posting a sign that lists my name, phone number, and email address with the request that if someone occupies the camp site they contact me to let me know that someone is there so i do not spend my time travelling up there only to find it occupied.  Needless to say, the last two weekends i have not gotten a call, text or email and have traveled up there (an hour from my house) only to find it occupied.  I am not a violent man however I'm not a pacifist in any way either. I have paid for the claim, i have improved it as required annually and I feel that i should have some expectation of being able to use it in order to extract the minerals.

     

    I am looking for some feedback from this community on how to deal with this issue. I understand that the mining claim gives me access to the mineral rights however if the claim is unusable it does not make sense. Here are some specific questions for this group. 

    1) Can I unofficially control access to this area (drag logs on the path to keep anything less than a jeep with 33" and a 4" lift for making its way through), put cable on the path restricting access?

    2) Can I work with BLM to officially control access

    3) Can I burn a new road and establish a new camp site on the claim? ( however i would expect to have the exact same problems)

    4) Is there some kind of etiquette I should be able to expect?

    5) Is my expectation that people contact me when occupying the campsite unreasonable? (the excuse for not contacting me has been that there is no cell phone reception however my response was that there IS reception 4 miles away on the main road)

    I thank everyone in advance for their responses and experiences.

    WALTER EASON
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    05 Jun 2017 12:22 PM
    Virtually all unpatented federal mining claims are in multi-use areas, this means that anyone can camp on the area. The claim owner only has rights to the minerals which means the campers are not allowed to access minerals, they also can not stop the miners from mining. I see not a problem, although I am not at all sure, with asking persons to contact you but it can not be a requirement. To control a mining site and remove a portion or all of it from multi-use would be where there is a producing mine and area due to security or safety reasons the managing agency would allow an area to be controlled. This is usually contained within a Plan of Operation where heavy equipment is being used along with hazards due to equipment moment and hazards existing due to digging.
    Mark Salvo
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    05 Jun 2017 12:47 PM
    Thank you for the reply Walter. When this occurred this last weekend my wife and I just picked another location, which I know was on another mining claim in the area. What i noticed was the area we were in was right by the roadway and BLM had marked it "no vehicular use" and placed obstructions (large rocks) on the accesses. We then had to carry our camping (no mining stuff since i know there was a claim there) stuff into the area and leave our car on the road. I'm wondering if I would be able to get BLM to do the same thing since to access our mining site you have to drive through the forest about 300 yards on what is NOT a developed road although it seems to be becoming one. And then obtain a special use permit to be able to violate those restrictions as the claim owner. ill be heading to the field office today to ask some questions?
    WALTER EASON
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    05 Jun 2017 12:51 PM
    My experience is that once the agency closes an area off they do not want any traffic in there, exception is a bond on a plan. Opening up a big can of worms and may end up restricting yourself a lot.
    Mark Salvo
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    05 Jun 2017 01:49 PM
    Thanks for that advice, i will skirt around that issue. what seems to be coming out of your advice is that there is not much to be done around the issue and my general plan from this point forward is to drop camp on top of whoever is camping there and deal with the uneasiness.
    William Hall
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    05 Jun 2017 05:14 PM
    In my opinion Mark,

    It would be unreasonable to expect someone to "call" you, when out camping in a national forest.
    Regardless of claim ownership. In a national forest its first come first serve.
    As Walt stated, claim ownership only gives you exclusive rights to minerals, anything past that you have no control over.
    I would encourage you to go talk to the forest circus, I would be very interested in what they have to say.
    wheres the rub, your an hour to home, wish I lived that close.
    I would bet the campers had no clue of gold claims or mineral rights.
    Now if they are claim jumping, that is a whole nother subject.
    I would not recommend "dropping camp" on whomever maybe there already, kinda like a fishin hole, keep your distance.
    No amount of gold is worth a life.

    Every one has their own ideas

    Bill
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