Land Matters has been concerned about the lack of quality, accessible information about federal mining claims available to the public. Through the generous contributions of our Claims Advantage Members, Land Matters now has the resources to track and quantify the details of mining claims on the public lands. That support has resulted in the most up to date claims mapping and tracking available to the public.

In 2016, Land Matters issued its first Annual Mining Claims Review Report. Land Matters plans to publish this report on an annual basis each year after the close of the federal mining year on August, 31st. This series of reports is intended to help the public understand the scope of mining claim activity on public lands. By examining the activity and trends we may more clearly identify the impact of policy changes, economic changes and industry activity in regards to mining on the public lands.

The 2016 report is a state-by-state trend analysis of active mining claims from 2010 through 2016. The analysis summarizes five basic metrics for placer and lode claims in each given year;

• Total Number of Claims
• Number of New Claims
• Number of Claims Closed
• Total Acreage of Active Claims
• Number of Claims filed under a Small Miners Waiver.

The Land Matters Claims Advantage Membership Program
publishes these detailed reports exclusively for its members along with bimonthly Claims Advantage Reports which list all newly closed claims by state. Each closed claim record includes a custom map showing the general location of the claim and a link to the BLM's serial register page which is a full historic record of the claim including the reason for closure.

Mining Claims Overview Report

 

Summary: These totals are the only State by State comparison chart presented in this public report. They are offered here to establish the relative activities of the mining states compared one to the other. Clearly the big elephant in the mining claims room is Nevada. We had to make this chart bigger just to demonstrate the relative values.

Methodology: These totals represent all federal mining claims listed as ACTIVE by the BLM on August 31, 2016.

Notes: The accuracy of annual totals can be affected by events that took place in any year, but have not been processed by the BLM prior to the effective date of this report, Sept 1st, 2016.
These totals do not include any claims that were located prior to 8/31/2016 but not yet recorded at the BLM. A claimant legally has 90 days from the date of location to file a copy of their mining claim location notice with the BLM State Office.
Totals for any year may include claims that are effectively closed but remain open until BLM processing is complete. For example, claims that are pending resolution by the IBLA.

Total Current Active Claims by State as of August 31, 2016

State	Lode Claims	Placer Claims	Millsite	Tunnel Site	Total
Arizona	34954	5078	3396	17	43445
California	10848	9768	1463	27	22106
Colorado	7874	1795	738	10	10417
Idaho	14114	2164	424	12	16714
Montana	10000	2569	1455	22	14046
Nevada	160542	17070	3556	12	181180
New Mexico	8234	1059	120	7	9420
Oregon	3247	2785	44	9	6085
South Dakota	1476	651	0	0	2127
Utah	16659	1908	408	31	19006
Washington	2233	318	6	3	2560
Wyoming	29740	5917	457	12	36126

 

Summary: These totals are an indicator of total ACTIVE status claims on a yearly basis. The general trend shows a slight rise in total claims through the 2013 mining year with a general decline of about 22% over the subsequent three years to the 2016 mining year. Total lode claims declined by 13.65% and total placer claims increased by 5.7% over the seven year period.

Placer Claims represented less than 15% of the total of mining claims in the 2016 mining year.

Methodology: This chart represents the total number of claims that were active on any day of a particular year. A claim is counted as active in this chart if the location date is prior to the end of the fiscal year AND the close date is later than September 1st of the current fiscal year. The active claims for any year will include claims that were located and closed both within that fiscal year.

Notes: The 2016 Claims totals do not include any claims that were located prior to 8/31/2016 but not yet recorded at the BLM.A claimant legally has 90 days from the date of location to file a copy of their mining claim location notice with the BLM State Office.

Total Claims by type by year

Year	Lode	Placer	Millsite	Tunnel Site	All Claims Combined
2010	350077	49143	11461	102	410783
2011	356594	50153	11053	115	417915
2012	386944	52653	10838	131	450566
2013	400463	53297	11514	140	465414
2014	348829	44966	11750	187	405732
2015	327145	44096	11756	175	383172
2016	302292	51946	12081	151	366470
Percent Change over 7 years	-13.65%	5.70%	5.41%	48.04%	-10.79%

 

Summary: These totals are an indicator of total new mining claim locations made on a yearly basis. The general trend shows a rise in total claims through the 2012 mining year with a large decline to the 2015 mining year. There was a relatively large increase in new placer claims locations in the 2016 mining year.

Methodology: This chart represents the number of new claim Locations made in any particular year. A claim is included if its LOCATION DATE is between the first and last days of the fiscal year inclusive.

Notes: The 2016 New Claims totals do not include any claims that were located prior to 8/31/2016 but not yet recorded at the BLM. A claimant legally has 90 days from the date of location to file a copy of their mining claim location notice with the BLM State Office.

Total New Claims by type by year

Year	Lode	Placer	Millsite	Tunnel Site	All Claims Combined
2010	31341	6533	436	16	38326
2011	51726	6186	405	28	58345
2012	48814	7919	414	36	57183
2013	28803	6172	940	22	35937
2014	20288	4746	530	70	25634
2015	17262	4556	140	21	21979
2016	16502	13184	495	11	30192

 

Summary: These figures show a bit of a roller coaster effect over the last seven years. The largest number of claims were closed in 2010 with a rapid tapering off of claim closures over the following two years. Beginning in 2013 the number of closed claims rises dramatically with a 200% increase in placer and lode claim closures from the previous year. Overall the trend shows a general tapering off in claim closures since the 2013 - 2014 period.

There are significant differences in these results on a state by state basis that will be seen in the the 12 States figures found in the full Claims Advantage Report pages that follow.

Methodology: This chart represents the total number of claims closed by the BLM during any particular year. A claim is included if its closure date falls within the fiscal year.

Notes: Totals for any year may NOT include claims that are effectively closed but remain open until BLM processing is complete. For example, claims that are pending resolution by the IBLA. Mining claims can be classified as "CLOSED" for various reasons including relenquishment or abandonment by the claim owners and challenge actions by the State BLM office. State Details Special Report #5 with monthly State by State details for the 2016 mining year will delve into the specifics of these differences in greater detail.

Total Closed Claims by type by year

Year	Lode	Placer	Millsite	Tunnel Site	All Claims Combined
2010	63178	6597	426	15	70216
2011	41284	4871	1061	19	47235
2012	16958	5923	428	17	23326
2013	41237	12104	271	18	53630
2014	50498	6338	195	41	57072
2015	34836	5722	220	9	40787
2016	39640	4501	64	33	44238

 

Summary: Overall mining claim acreage has declined significantly over the seven year sample period. Placer claim acreage declined an astonishing 28.60% over the seven years. Placer claim acreage peaked in 2012 and has declined 40% in the following four years.

These numbers may be affected due to changes over time in the State BLM offices emphasis on the importance of recording acreage. Be sure to read the Notes section below.

Methodology: This chart represents the total number of acres of land related to claims that were active on any day of a particular year. A claim and its acreage is counted in this chart if the location date is prior to the end of the fiscal year AND the close date is later than September 1st of the current fiscal year. The active claims for any year will include claims that were located and closed both within that fiscal year.

Notes: The accuracy of annual totals can be affected by events that took place in any year, but have not been processed by the BLM prior to the effective date of this report, Sept 1st, 2016.

These totals do not include the acreage of any claims that were located prior to 8/31/2016 but not yet recorded at the BLM.A claimant legally has 90 days from the date of location to file a copy of their mining claim location notice with the BLM State Office.

Totals for any year may include the acreage of claims that are effectively closed but remain open until BLM processing is complete. For example, claims that are pending resolution by the IBLA.

There appear to be some inconsistencies in the recording of acreage for millsites and tunnel sites in some states, in some years, allowing for claims with either no acreage or excessive acreage resulting in misleading totals and percentages. Specifics will be noted on individual charts. There will a more extensive analysis of these discrepancies in the upcoming Annual Mining Claims Administrative Review Special Report #6.

Total Claim Acres by type by year

Year	Lode	Placer	Millsite	Tunnel Site	All Claims Combined
2010	6015058	2716448	50976	3823	8786305
2011	7013018	3028291	52466	4467	10098242
2012	7955672	3246748	53634	8615	11264669
2013	8234393	2982730	57488	9826	11284437
2014	7164388	2071207	58567	18864	9313026
2015	6712937	1877133	58598	16755	8665423
2016	6197364	1939574	60183	13068	8210189
Percent Change over 7 years	3.03%	-28.60%	18.06%	241.83%	-6.56%

 

Summary: Small Miner's Waivers had a significant 9.22% drop for lode claims and a large 23.45% rise for placer claims during the seven year report period.

There is significant variance among the States in this trend so closer inspection is needed on a state by state basis. The actual number of all mining claims under the waiver is relatively small compared to the total of mining claims in most states. The impact per state of these waivers will be examined in detail in State Details Special Report #5 and the financial implications of these reduced BLM fees will be studied in Administrative Review Special Report #6.

Methodology: This chart represents the total number of active claims that were covered under a Small Miners Waiver in any particular year.

Notes: Small Miner's Waivers are only available to those claimants that have 10 or fewer mining claims. The waiver allows claim owners to perform their $100 in annual labor per claim in lieu of the annual maintenance fees.

These totals do not include any claims that were located prior to 8/31/2016 but not yet recorded at the BLM. A claimant legally has 90 days from the date of location to file a copy of their mining claim location notice with the BLM State Office.
Totals for any year may include claims that are effectively closed but remain open until BLM processing is complete. For example, claims that are pending resolution by the IBLA.

Total Small Miner Claims by type by year

Year	Lode	Placer	Millsite	Tunnel Site	All Claims Combined
2010	12524	8645	229	51	21449
2011	12336	8644	206	46	21232
2012	12391	8838	199	50	21478
2013	12265	11202	190	45	23702
2014	11982	11207	188	55	23432
2015	11491	10829	149	60	22529
2016	11369	10672	174	54	22269
Percent Change over 7 years	-9.22%	23.45%	-24.02%	5.88%	3.82%