Over the month of October, the total number of mining claims on public land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) dropped by 165 claims. This is due to a low number of claims staked in the month—down 93% compared to October 2015—as well as a high number of abandoned claims—up 321% compared to last year. This uptick in abandoned claims is mostly accounted for by 312 claims abandoned in Utah. The relatively low number of staked claims is mainly due to a drop in Nevada from 1,562 claims in October of 2015 to only 34 in October 2016—1,528 fewer claims.
Nationwide Trends
In October 2016, 172 mines were staked. This is compared to 2,634 staked in October 2015—a month-over-month increase of 2,462 mines. October’s trends contribute to an annual net increase of 18,215 active mines between 2016 and 2015 . While 172 mining claims were staked through the BLM in October, 337 mines were abandoned over the same month. This is a increase of 257 mines as opposed to October 2015 when there were 80 abandoned claims.
| October 2016 | October 2015 | Net | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Claims | 364,160 | 345,945 | 18,215 | 5% |
| Staked Claims | 172 | 2,634 | 2,462 | 93% |
| Staked Acres | 3,652 | 53,823 | 50,171 | 93% |
| Abandoned Claims | 337 | 80 | 257 | 321% |
| Abandoned Acres | 7,103 | 2,673 | 4,430 | 165% |
Chart 1: Active Mines By Year
in the United States Of America
State Trends
Nevada, Arizona, and Wyoming are the three most active states when ranked by total active mining claims on public land overseen by the BLM. Nevada is the most active state with 183,348 active mines, accounting for 50.35% of the overall mining claims in the United States. Arizona is the second most active state, with 41,336 mining claims. Wyoming is the third most active state, with 36,188 mining claims.
| State | October 2016 (Active Mines) |
October 2015 (Active Mines) |
Net | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 183,348 | 169,691 | 13,657 | 8% |
| Arizona | 41,336 | 40,564 | 772 | 2% |
| Wyoming | 36,188 | 36,552 | 364 | 1% |
| California | 22,326 | 20,950 | 1,376 | 7% |
| Utah | 18,144 | 18,419 | 275 | 1% |
Chart 2: States By Active Mine
in the United States Of America
| State | October 2016 (Staked claims) |
October 2015 (Staked claims) |
Net | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho | 57 | 84 | 27 | 32% |
| Nevada | 34 | 1,562 | 1,528 | 98% |
| New Mexico | 24 | 2 | 22 | 1,100% |
| Arizona | 13 | 75 | 62 | 83% |
| California | 13 | 76 | 63 | 83% |
County Trends
Elko, Eureka, and Lander counties are the three most active mining counties on public land overseen by the BLM. Elko County, Nevada is the most active with 28,977 active claims. The county accounts for 7.96% of the overall mining claims in the United States. Eureka County, Nevada hosts 22,471 mining claims and accounts for 6.17% of the overall mining claims in the United States. Lander County, Nevada has 22,013 mining claims—6.17% of the active mining claims overseen by the BLM.
| County | October 2016 (Active Mines) |
October 2015 (Active Mines) |
Net | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elko, Nevada | 28,977 | 28,785 | 192 | 0.7% |
| Eureka, Nevada | 22,471 | 21,930 | 541 | 2.5% |
| Lander, Nevada | 22,013 | 19,894 | 2,119 | 11.0% |
| Humboldt, Nevada | 19,921 | 19,669 | 252 | 1.2% |
| Nye, Nevada | 19,674 | 17,284 | 2,390 | 13.8% |
| County | October 2016 (Staked Claims) |
October 2015 (Staked Claims) |
Net | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemhi, Idaho | 34 | 2 | 32 | 1,600% |
| Lyon, Nevada | 21 | 2 | 19 | 950% |
| Hidalgo, New Mexico | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Custer, Idaho | 15 | 4 | 11 | 275% |
| Idaho, Idaho | 8 | 19 | 11 | 57% |
| County | October 2016 (Abandoned Claims) |
October 2015 (Abandoned Claims) |
Net | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tooele, Utah | 97 | 0 | 97 | |
| Grand, Utah | 76 | 0 | 76 | |
| Juab, Utah | 52 | 0 | 52 | |
| Emery, Utah | 26 | 0 | 26 | |
| Utah, Utah | 24 | 0 | 24 |
View Individual State Trends Reports
For more locally focused reports, complete with graphs and time series tables, visit any of our listed states below or search for a particular county’s trend report on The Diggings™.
Get Report Alerts
Each month, we release a new report on mining claim trends. Get notified when the next report is published, updated data is released, or new features are available on The Diggings™ by joining our mailing list.
*These reports are summarizing mining claims on public land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management and do not encompass sales or transfers occurring on private land.