Lode Claim
A mining claim for minerals that occur in veins, lodes, ledges, or other rock in place, limited to 1,500 feet along the vein by 600 feet wide.
Detailed Definition
A lode claim is a mining claim for a mineral deposit that occurs as veins, lodes, ledges, or other rock in place. It is the form of mining claim used for most hard rock deposits of base and precious metals.
When a deposit is located as a lode
Under 43 CFR 3832.21, a lode claim is for a mineral that occurs as veins, lodes, ledges, or other rock in place, and that contains base and precious metals, gems and semi-precious stones, or certain industrial minerals. The regulation names gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, zinc, fluorite, and barite as examples. Bedded deposits such as gypsum and limestone, and deposits of placer or alluvial origin, are not located as lodes.
Size limits
- "Lode claims must not exceed 1,500 by 600 feet" (43 CFR 3832.22).
- Length is a maximum of 1,500 feet along the course of the vein, lode, or ledge.
- Width is a maximum of 300 feet on each side of the middle of the vein.
- A full-size lode claim is 900,000 square feet, which is about 20.66 acres.
Discovery
"Your lode claim is not valid until you have made a discovery" (43 CFR 3832.21). Discovery means the claimant has found a valuable mineral deposit. A claim can be staked, recorded, and paid for every year and still fail this test.
Recording a lode claim
- Record the notice or certificate of location with the BLM state office by the 90th day after the date of location, and with the local recording office as state law requires.
- For a lode claim located on or after 9/1/2024, BLM collects a one-time $49 location fee and an initial $200 maintenance fee, plus a processing fee that BLM sets each year.
- State law governs the monuments, the posted notice, and the county filing. Those requirements differ from state to state.
Annual maintenance
The annual maintenance fee for a lode claim is $200, due on or before September 1 (43 CFR 3830.21). A claimant who holds no more than 10 mining claims and sites nationwide, counting related parties, may file a small miner waiver and perform assessment work in place of the fee.
Lode or placer
The choice is not a preference. A deposit located as the wrong type of mining claim is open to challenge. The form of the deposit in the ground decides the question, not the mineral alone. Gold in a quartz vein is located as a lode. Gold in stream gravel is located as a placer.
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.
Placer Claim
A mining claim for minerals that are not in their original place, such as gold-bearing sand and gravel, limited to 20 acres per locator and 160 acres for an association.
Mining Claim Staking
The process of locating a mining claim on the ground under state law and recording it with the county and BLM within 90 days of the date of location.
Mill Site
A location of up to 5 acres of nonmineral federal land, not contiguous to a vein or lode, used for activities that support a mining claim or for custom milling.
Tunnel Site
A subsurface right-of-way under federal land open to mineral entry, used to reach lode mining claims or to explore for blind veins, up to 3,000 feet long.
Apex
The top or outcrop of a vein, lode, or ledge. Under 30 U.S.C. 26, the lode claim that contains the apex may follow the vein downward beyond its vertical side lines.
Extralateral Rights
The right of a lode claim owner to follow a vein downward beyond the vertical side lines of the claim, when the apex lies inside the claim, limited by vertical planes through the end lines.