Looks like there’s going to be a new boss in town (actually everywhere out of city limits of Wickenburg) in some popular nugget hunting areas. The Maricopa county government parks dept. has issued a Memorandum of Understanding which is intended to “initiate a formal working relationship and establish a general framework of cooperation upon which a Recreation Area Management Plan (RAMP) for the Vulture Mountain Cooperative Recreation Management Area (Vulture Mtn.-CRMA) will be developed to determine the recreational uses and needs of the area; and to identify the management actions required to reach the desired outcomes of the Parties, the public, and surrounding communities.” This is not Mining Legislation per se but a change in the administration of a large area comprising the Vulture mountains, Wickenburg and Buckhorn ranges. You’ll see when you look at the map that this change includes all of the Vultures, Rich Hill, Little San Domingo drainages AND there are a wide variety of special land designations within the proposed boundary.

Basically, it’s the establishment a FEE program and rules program that will be initiated in this vast gold bearing area.It very likely will mean closures, claims invalidation and definitely FEES and Road Closures. It looks like the entire Vulture area, LSD and Constellation Road area is designated as a “Special Cultural Resource Management Area” No word on what this means but the bottom line is that they have plans. Incidentally, all the activities that they list are already happening throughout the area, they just need to collect at this time.

How long, when, how and if is anybody’s guess. As more information becomes available, we’ll keep you updated. For now, please familiarize yourself with the MOU  and take a look at the map of the affected areas.

Please stay updated on this issue as it will take a long time and there may be opportunity to get involved at least at the public comment level. If you’ve enjoyed this area in the past, the rules are about to change, so keep up! Public comments are already open here so feel free to let us know what you think.

 The Obama administration recently released it budget for fiscal year 2012.  It’s been blasted by both sides of the aisle and lauded by some as well.

There is one small item in the budget that you might not know about but will be of big interest to mining claim holders.

The section regarding the Department of the Interior “Provides a better return to taxpayers from mineral development” and “proposes a number of actions to receive a fair return from the development of U.S. mineral resources”, including “Charging a royalty on select hardrock minerals(such as silver, gold and copper)”

Read about it here:

Department of the Interior Budget overview 

They are suggesting a 5% royalty on new mines. This would effectively change the status of claims to something more like a lease as they do with oil and gas.

It’s interesting wording. By using the work hardrock, it brings into question the status of placer claims. What constitutes a mine? Does it mean they want 8% of a 2 gram nugget? A gram of fine gold from the drywasher?

So, what do you think? Good thing? Bad thing?   Leave a comment and let us know what you think.

SB 670 has passed and due to a two thirds urgency vote is effective immediately now that Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed it. So, for now, no more suction dredging in the state of California.

This ban will be in effect until the Department of Fish and Game can complete a study on how much it harms salmon.

Proponents of the bill wish to restore salmon  and steelhead runs and claim that dredging sucks up salmon eggs and dislodges settled mercury.

I believe that the dredges collect more mercury than they “stir up”. I also believe this is the last day anyone legally suction dredges in California. Once they get it, it never comes back.

What do you think about all this and what will the ultimate outcome be. Login or register and leave a comment.