I put a poll up on the blog, asking what prices you would be willing to pay for a book which tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about owning and staking a mining claim. Why?
Well, I think about how many years it took me after graduating high school to stake my first claim, simply because the whole process was intimidating to me. After all that time I decided to just dive into it and meet every challenge head on until I got my claim staked, and recorded. I know a lot of guides exist, but a lot of them don't actually tell you everything involved. A lot of very helpful things are overlooked in them, and with every state being different there is really no TRUE step by step guide in existence.
I took myself through from start to finish. I had to learn it all the hard way, but I figure I can write that real step by step guide that is truly needed by so many people out there. A book written from actual field experience by someone like you, who hasn't been doing this professionally or was born into it. It really is one of those things "If I can do it, you can too".
At first I thought maybe buying a claim is the way to go. Is it? For one thing you don't know if it was staked properly. For another, unless you visit it yourself and test it yourself, and thoroughly research the area, can you really say you aren't being sold a worthless claim? If there are any errors in the paperwork, or in the boundaries or monuments it means if someone wanted your ground badly enough they could have it deemed invalid and your claim would be voided and free for anyone to claim again so long as they did it properly. Your mineral rights are only as secure as the accuracy of your markings and documents.
Then, you have a whole pile of paperwork to deal with. It's not so bad once you get the initial transfers or recordings done. But it can be stressful because the government runs on paperwork and it seems like you just file everything only to turn around and have to file more. A year doesn't seem to be as much time as it used to be. But then you have to know what forms need filed, what the fees are, and who to record them with, and whether they have to be notarized and etc.
Of course buying a claim can get quite expensive. Just because a claim is up for sale doesn't mean there is something wrong with it. Trust me, just because you have a gold mine doesn't mean you are on easy street. We are ALL millionaires, if we can just get it all out of the ground... But you see, people like you and I are small operators. A lot of us only get by on hand tools. Imagine there is a building in front of you. Further, imagine being told it contains a million dollars, but that you only have one minute to grab all of it you possibly can. You open the doors and the million you are within reach of grabbing is all in pennies. How do you cope with that? Well, if you find someone who can pay you enough that makes you happy, who perhaps knows he can more easily grab more of that wealth than you ever could, then it may be beneficial for you to part with it and let someone else be productive. If you don't want to be totally cut out there's always royalty deals too... I mean, sure, why not ask for a few percent of all future claim profits if it is a huge deposit. There are lots of good reasons to sell a mining claim, but everyone assumes all claims are bad or they wouldn't be up for sale.
A claim will only do good things for you if you actually get out and use it and work it. Oh, the stream is still doing it's job. It will still concentrate the deposits, making all those pockets of gold richer and richer for whoever finally does come in and dig it up, but unless that is you... And some people just aren't able to get out and do it so there you go, they get claim poor because the claim is costing them money and they are getting no benefit out of it.
There are so many things to consider... But my feeling was, well, why would I pay $2,000 for a little placer claim when I can just stake my own for a fraction of that price? If I spent in fees and overhead getting that done, then well hell, I paid myself $1600 for all the trouble of doing it, right? So that's the direction I took. But it isn't always possible. There are streams that are so renown and coveted we may never see a 20 acre section free for staking on in our lifetimes, so you bet buying and selling claims is an important function in the market place.
I just want to write that end all, be all, exhaustive guide to mining claims so that not only can you stake one or buy one, but you can know how to keep it and not lose it. It is overwhelming and confusing because there are a lot of things that just don't appear to make sense at first, and when you start working on it, all of a sudden it clicks... And when dealing with the government, you really can't afford to miss something, even a small something may cost you considerably more money to finally get everything done the way Uncle Sam wants it.
I will write this guide anyways, since it will contain high quality information, from start to finish, and everywhere in between, I just would kind of like to know what the average prospector would actually pay for such a guide. Pick all the prices you feel good about paying, but don't select a price that makes you back off. I will assume the highest price with the most votes is the retail price, sticker price lets say. I don't believe in overcharging, but I need to know what the consensus is on such a thing as this. And yes, the economy really still sucks, I know that. So... Thanks for cooperating and hope to see some activity here!
I can be followed on twitter @goldbaron357 for those who would like to follow my authors twitter and stay up to date on my various book projects.
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