Staking Your Claim to Alaskan Mineral Wealth by Dennis
Garrett
A few issues ago I wrote about the mineral
potential of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and promised
to get into more detail later. Now it is later, and
because of the importance of the mineral deposits
and the potential economic impact the development
of those resources could have, I'm starting a series,
the first of which follows this introduction.
Have you ever wanted a mining claim,
but didn't know how to do it, or where to begin? This
article will, hopefully, help you along.
Before we head into the bush to start
staking, there are some rules you need to know, and
some points you need to consider. Probably the most
important is that you cannot use a mining claim as
a substitute for real estate. In other words, don't
think that you can just stake a claim somewhere and
put up a cabin, or even live in a cabin on a mining
claim that has been abandoned. You will be in trespass,
and usually you will be in serious trouble for it.
The holder of a mining claim does not own the surface,
the water, or even the gravel. A mining claim grants
the holder with the preferential right to extract
the valuable minerals within the claim, and for uses
incident to that goal, such as exploration and development.
The size of a mining operation is not relevant to
ownership of a claim, but a mining operation or exploration
towards that goal is the only legitimate use of a
mining claim. And because the mining claims confers
only limited mineral rights to the holder, anyone
can freely cross over the claim, or fish, hike, hunt,
pick berries, etc. as long as the activities do not
interfere with the mining operation. Likewise, anyone
removing minerals from a valid claim may find themselves
arrested or sued for theft. Some people have even
been shot for these activities.
You'll need to know the owner of the
land upon which you want to stake a claim. In Alaska,
land ownership generally falls into one of these categories:
federal, state, Native Corporation, and private (which
includes Borough lands). The easiest way to determine
land status is through the Alaska Department of Natural
Resources (D.N.R.), either online or at one of their
offices in Fairbanks, Anchorage, or Juneau. Land status,
i.e. who owns what, what is open to mineral entry
(claim staking) and what is closed, and what stipulations
and restrictions which may be in place upon those
lands, will determine where or if you can stake a
claim. For example, some areas are limited to "leasehold
location" staking only, which is a type of mining
claim, but an important distinction nevertheless.
The DNR offices are also where you will obtain the
forms necessary to stake and file your claim, and
related information, all of which is also available
online. The addresses, both physical and online, will
be provided later in this article.
Status plats are maps produced by the
DNR which show the status of the lands in your area
of interest. Of the hundreds of millions of acres
within Alaska, only about 10 percent is open to mineral
entry, about 20 million acres. Much of this is already
claimed, but even in popular areas there can be found
some open ground (unclaimed lands). There are currently approximately 37,000 state mining claims
and 17,000 federal mining claims. The Ultimate Prospectors Toolkit has this
information plotted in a GIS system for ease of use. Status plats will
help you determine what ground remains open. Another
consideration is economics. Currently there is a rush
on tantalum and platinum prospecting in Alaska, and
several projects within a days drive of our area have
been discovered in areas not previously recognized
or known. A potential diamond deposit near Shulin
Lake south of the Petersville Road has been discovered
within the last two years and currently is being evaluated.
One approach is to look in areas where
mining is occurring or has taken place in the past.
You can often find areas that were mined a long time
ago, and where valuable minerals still remain. Both
state and federal mining laws require, as part of
staking a claim, that a "discovery" be made.
This discovery means that a prudent person would be
justified in the expenditure of time and resources
upon the claim developing the mineral potential. Rarely
will the state bother with the expense and hassle
of conducting a validity determination, but the federal
government knows no such restrictions. This is probably
a good place to point out that you will be much happier
staking a claim on state land than you will staking
a claim on federal lands. Sometimes it seems (to me
and others familiar with the situation) that the federal
government doesn't want mining on "their"
land. But, if a claim has been mined before, chances
are good that some valuable minerals remain. Claims
and mines have been abandoned for a variety of reasons.
When you decide where you want to stake
a claim, and if you can stake a claim where you want
one, you'll be ready to begin the process. Mining
laws require you to actually go to the area where
you want to stake a claim and, beginning in the northeast
corner, place a monument. The monument (you'll need
one for each corner; however multiple claims owned
by the same person or company can share common corner
monuments), can be a post of wood or some other material,
even a rock cairn, but whatever you use must be at
least 3" in diameter and at least 3 feet in height.
I use 5' long by 4" diameter white PVC pipes
because they are lighter to carry and animals don't
rub against them like they do wood posts, and the
monuments are very visible. Corner No. 4, ADL 540474I
use 5' long pipes so that I can bury 2' in the ground,
and still have 3' in height. I paint the ends orange
to help the visibility in the winter, but the paint
fades in time. I also write all my information, such
as my name, the claim name and number, posting date,
and so on right on the post in permanent marker. (NOTE:
Check your regulations-certain additional stipulations
may be required, such as capping the posts). The number
one corner is the corner where you'll place your "location
notice", which is a copy of the forms you'll
be filing with the various government agencies to
record your claim. I put mine in plastic bags taped
to the monument. You'll need to insure that the monuments
are in good shape every year. Formerly the regulations
required a claim locator to brush and flag the claim
lines between monuments but that requirement has been
dropped.
The maximum dimensions of a state mining
claim may be either 1320' by 1320' (40 acres), or
2640' by 2640' (160 acres), depending upon which type
of claim you stake. Recently, the state implemented
new regulations allowing the staking of a "MTRSC"
claim, which stands for Merdian Township Range Section
Claim, and must fit within a quarter section. Otherwise,
you'll be staking a claim under the older regulations.
Details of the regulations may be obtained from the
DNR. Federal mining claims are 660' by 1320', or twenty
acres.
After you've placed your number one
monument at the northeast corner, you then work around
in a clockwise direction and post the rest of your
monuments. The distance between each monument depends
upon the claim you're staking and the presence of
preexisting mining claims and other closed lands.
The accuracy of your claim staking activity need not
be survey-quality, but try to be as accurate as possible.
Many people have begun to use GPS devices to locate
their corners, which is about as accurate as you need.
Greater accuracy is not required. You can stake your
claim using only a compass and topographic map. It
may be valuable later on to take photos of each monument
when you place them, and record the information in
a waterproof field book, such as is used by surveyors.
I also take soil, rock, and other samples from the
hole and any interesting areas adjacent (and within
my claim) to the corner, as this provides an easy
reference.
Next you have 45 days to file your claim
documents with the recorders office relevant to your
area of interest, and with the DNR. Federal regulations
are slightly different, but it is more likely you'll
be staking on state lands. The DNR will have information
relating to which recording district your claims are
located within, but for most of the Borough the recorders
office in Palmer is the place you'll be mailing or
delivering the forms to, along with the requisite
filing fees. You'll note that the forms you get from
the DNR have 2 sheets, one for the DNR offices and
one for the recorders office, which will leave you
one copy short (the copy you need to place on the
monument). Therefore, it is a good idea to fill out
the forms and make a copy before you head into the
hills, and fill in the dates when you finish the task.
You'll also need to submit a map of your claim in
relation to other claims, section lines, and so on.
For this I use copies of the status plats, which helps
speed the process and avoids any ambiguity.
Filing fees and the first years rental
on your claim (you really didn't think any of this
would be free, did you?) will vary depending upon
what type claim you staked, and on whether it is state
or federal land, and how many claims you staked. Average
filing fees for claims at the recorders office are
$15 each, and the rental, due within 45 days of filing
the claim, will be $25 and up.
If you're not sure that you want to
stake a claim in the area, you can file a Prospecting
Site, which is like a mining claim, except that it
will expire in two years and can't be renewed. You
can stake mining claims or convert the prospecting
site to mining claims as it gives you a preferential
right if you make a discovery.
Once you get the claim, the next challenge
is keeping it. Aside from claim jumpers and bureaucrats
exercising an abuse of discretion, you have annual
rental fees to pay, which begin at $25 per claim and
double every five years or whenever the bureaucracy
decides to increase them. And you'll file lots of
paperwork with various agencies. Probably the most
important is the Affidavit of Annual Labor. This document
details what work you did on the claim, which is a
requirement under both state and federal law to keep
the claim. You'll need to do at least $100 in labor
per claim per year, but the excess may be carried
over for up to four years. Meeting this requirement
is easy, just be sure to file the form with the recorders
office (along with the filing fee, of course) before
the end of November each year.
Failure to properly stake or record
a claim, or to pay fees and meet annual filing requirements
will result in a loss of the claim, known as "abandonment".
Once the claim is abandoned you cannot restake it
for one year, during which time the ground is open
to location by other persons.
Staking claims on state-selected land,
that is lands upon which the state has placed a selection
request but has not received title from the federal
government, is risky at best. Because the state has
no management authority, no mining operations on state-selected
land can be permitted by the state. The best you can
do is stake a claim and hope for the best.
Mining and exploration operations involving
equipment larger than a 4" suction dredge require
permits from various state and federal regulatory
agencies. The Annual Placer Mining Application, available
from the DNR Division of Mining, will satisfy the
requirements of most state and federal agencies. In
some cases additional permits may be required.
Lastly, if you're considering buying
a mining claim, you need to be even more diligent.
Every year worthless mining claims are sold by people
who are unscrupulous or ignorant, and purchased by
unsuspecting buyers. Investigate the claim history
and status at the DNR, where you can get a factsheet
titled "Investigate That Claim Before Buying".
You can download this factsheet from the DNR website,
and another DNR website, the Alaska Division of Geological
and Geophysical Surveys, (D.G.G.S.) has geological,
geophysical, and geochemical reports and maps, reports
of investigations, pamphlets, factsheets, and more,
most available for free download.
For more information on mining regulations,
forms, factsheets, or to check on land status go online
to http://www.dnr.state.ak.us or in person at DNR
Public Information Center, 550 West 7th Ave. Suite
1260, Anchorage, Alaska 99501-3577. They're open 10
a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. I would include
the website information for the BLM in Alaska, but
their web sites and email servers go up and down. For the Alaska D.G.G.S website
go to http://wwwdggs.dnr.state.ak.us/ or http://wwwdggs.dnr.state.ak.us/Libguide/Section4.htm
