There is no set rule for numbering corners, clockwise or counterclockwise, except that they be consecutive. In a block of claims corner numbers should be grouped, reducing the number of ties to a section corner or natural object.
While 43 C.F.R. 3841.4–5 calls for a tie to a permanent, well-known point or object from the discovery, a tie from one of the corners is perfectly acceptable. In fact a metes and bounds description with bearings given at least to degrees and distances in feet, should be included in the location certificate. Avoid using such directions as southwesterly, northeasterly, northerly, etc. Acceptable location certificate forms can usually be purchased at a local printer or stationery store.
FIG. 3
FIG. 4
The term “location notice” applies to the notice posted on the claim at the time of discovery. Some states require that a copy of this notice be recorded, while others provide for the filing of a location certificate after all discovery work has been completed and the boundaries monumented. Forms for the location notice, to be followed by the location certificate for Colorado, and a form for a California location notice, where a copy of the notice is recorded, are included in the appendix.
Placer Claims
2–4 Discovery: 43 C.F.R. 3842.1–1 states: “But one discovery of mineral is required to support a placer location, whether it be of 20 acres by an individual, or 160 acres or less by an association of persons.” The discovery may be anywhere in the claim and must be more than a trace. Although it need not be commercial for purposes of location, commercial feasibility (or marketability) will be required for patent.
Known lodes are automatically excluded from placer locations. If any are known to exist they must be located as lode claims; the extent of surface ground may be the minimum, i.e., 25 ft. on either side of the vein.