Claims Intelligence
Tracking BLM mining claim records over time to see who holds ground in an area, how their positions change, and what those changes suggest.
Detailed Definition
Claims intelligence is a working term for tracking mining claim records over time. Where claims research answers what is on a tract today, claims intelligence watches an area or a holder and asks what changed and when. It relies on the same public records.
The records
BLM publishes its mining claim cases from the Mineral and Land Records System (MLRS) as two national map layers, one for cases whose disposition is "anything other than closed" and one for closed cases. Each case carries fields including:
- Case Name and Case Serial Number, with the Legacy Case Serial Number from LR2000
- Case Type Number (see Case Type Code)
- Case Disposition, the case's status (see Disposition Code)
- Case Acres
- Created and Modified dates for the record
- Data Quality, a score for how well the case mapped
The map layers carry no claimant names; those are in the MLRS case records. See BLM Serial Number.
What changes, and when it shows up
- New locations. A mining claim must be filed with BLM "by the 90th day after the date of location" (43 CFR 3833.11(a)), so a new claim can be on the ground for up to 90 days before BLM records show it.
- Transfers. A transfer "is effective in the manner and on the date provided by state law, not the date you file it with BLM" (43 CFR 3833.32(a)). The county record can be ahead of BLM's.
- Annual fees. The maintenance fee is due "on or before September 1st of each year" (43 CFR 3834.11(b)). A mining claim is forfeited if its holder fails to "pay the annual maintenance fee on or before the due date" (43 CFR 3830.91(a)(3)), unless a small miner waiver applies. See Forfeiture.
- Closures. Closed cases move from one BLM layer to the other, so tracking both is the only way to see what dropped.
Limits of the data
BLM's metadata states that "the BLM only requires that mining claims be identified down to the affected quarter section(s)," and that "geospatial representations might be missing for some cases." A change in the map is a lead to the case file, not a finding.
Adding context
USGS's Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) shows known mines, prospects, and occurrences, which helps explain why ground is being staked. MRDS is no longer systematically updated; see MRDS.
Why it matters in mining claim research
Patterns in the record, such as a new block of mining claims next to an existing position, a transfer to a new holder, or a block allowed to lapse, are visible only when records are compared over time. Change monitoring of mining claim records does that comparison on a schedule. See also Claims Research, Claim Density, and Area of Interest.
Related Terms
Mining Claim
A parcel of federal land on which a claimant asserts the right to possess and develop a valuable mineral deposit under the Mining Law of 1872.
Claim Density
The number of mining claims in a unit of area, such as a section or township, used to see where ground is being held and how that changes over time.
Area of Interest
The boundary drawn around the ground being researched, such as a list of townships and sections or a mapped polygon, that sets which records are pulled.
Claims Research
Finding and reading the records of the mining claims on a tract, from BLM and the county, to learn what is claimed, by whom, and whether the filings were made on time.
Claim Conflict
An overlap or competing interest between a mining claim and another mining claim or site, a patent, a lease, or a withdrawal on the same ground.
Overlap Analysis
Comparing the boundaries of mining claims with each other and with withdrawals and land status to find where they coincide, then checking the records to see which overlaps are real.