'>>2722653
You have to buy a claim or something iirc.
I've been watching "Ghost Town Living" lately, and its all about mines and history.
To know if you can mine, I'd check with your county/local government or something like that.';

'>>2722654
There’s a river close to my house with a bunch of stuff like agate and arrow heads. Could I dig that for free? Or do I still need a license?';

'>>2722653
I work in mining in the Eastern US. You nead to own or lease the mineral rights. The government isnt the worse when it comes to leasing the mineral rights but if there is ore in your area the leases may already be held by another company. Also, I havw no fuckin clue how claims and shit work out west if you are there.';

'>>2722653
Please do it and keep us updated';

'>>2722667
Arrowheads are generally surface pick only; digging for artifacts requires an archeological permit. Agates would require a mineral claim either way (but I don't think a claim holder would really mind you picking up surface stuff if you happened to get caught; worst case they just ask you to leave).';

'>>2722653if it’s federally owned land you can file a tunnel claim and dig a tunnel up 3000ft in length to explore for minerals underground. Proper tunnel applications are approved all the time, I think that there is one within the Aspen city limits from like 2018 or something like that, properly located and applied for means the government can not deny it.

Town owned property does not count, and you have to be in one of the 26 western states or Florida (and I think one other state) where federal claims are permitted.';

'If you're gonna larp as a miner you might as well do it for real otherwise you're just busting your ass for nothing. Get a claim on gold bearing ground and actually try to sink a shaft into something that looks like an old river beds or alluvial terraces. Read a few books.';

'>>2724166
Best way to find arrowheads is wait till the next time you plow up firebreaks, and then a hard rain comes afterwards, and walk the firebreaks.';

'Claim jumpers will be shot, raped, and bodies will be dumped down a shaft never to be found.';

'>>2722653
Yes but also no. The process to lay a claim isn't difficult but does require some work. First, there can't be an existing claim. If there is, you'll have to purchase it or you can't extract minerals. If it has lapsed then you can pay the fees to reinstate it in your name. If there is no claim then you have to prove that there is extractable minerals of economic importance. You aren't going to get a mineral claim for a gravel pit or a big hole in the ground so there has to be provable minerals there. You may have to do an environmental impact analysis depending on the size of the claim and your proposed extraction method.
Proving there is minerals there isn't hard. There's a process lined out on the same website you'd initiate a mineral claim on. Be prepared to take a government employee to your site to confirm the presence of minerals.
Now where you can have a mineral claim is where stuff gets restrictive. It's basically just federal land and depending on the state, some, and only some, state owned lands. I've never heard of a city allowing mineral extraction of any kind. They typically hold land for future development or trade with other governmental agencies or private parties depending on their land use needs. If you have a mineral claim they have to keep that intact, even if the property trades hands, so they typically wouldn't enter that agreement with you.
The easiest ways to start a mine is to own the property or purchase mineral rights to one. Mineral rights are surprisingly cheap and can be bought/sold privately and are logged publicly. In my area five acres gold claims for for 5k and up depending on how productive they are and renewing your claim every year is only about 100$.
If you own the property you may still have to get a permit if you dig big enough of a hole someone notices. Just don't tell anyone about it though and you'll probably be fine.';