Get Lode Mining Claim

Can I camp on my unpatented mining claim? Without an approved plan of operations, you have the same rights and restrictions as the public. If the area is open to camping to the public, then it is permissible. Please check with your local Ranger District for areas open to camping.

In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fracture (or crack) in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock.

Can I live on my gold claim? No, you can not technically live here. However, you may camp indefinitely while you have an active mining operation, Which can be as little as having a gold claim, bucket, and shovel.

Mining claims make a good substitute for commodities, mining stocks, and royalty investments. The Mining Law of 1872 gives US citizens and companies the right to locate claims on public lands that are open to mineral entry.

Placer Claim: rock not in original place (river sands or gravel); may not exceed 20 acres per individual claimant, up to 160 acres maximum. Lode Claim: veins, ledges, or other rock in place; not to exceed 1500 ft. by 600 ft. or 20.66 acres.

You cannot camp longer than 14 days, and you cannot come back and camp again for another 14 days within the same 90 day period, nor can you camp on a different claim or site if it is within 25 miles of where you previously camped within that 90 day period.

Lode claims are usually located as parallelograms with the side lines parallel to the vein or lode. Descriptions are by metes-and-bounds surveys (giving the length and compass bearing of each boundary line from a central point or monument to each corner post, and then sequentially around the perimeter of the claim).