There are 544,341 active lode and placer mining claims on federal land in the 12 western states. That’s 41% more than at the start of 2015, and close to the number in January 2020. Nevada alone holds 49% of them.
These counts come from the Bureau of Land Management’s mining claim records. Gold Maps Online has counted them since 2013, and the counts for today come from the same records used to build the state gold maps, so they update when the maps do.
Active mining claims by state, 2013 to today
| State | Start of 2013 | Start of 2014 | Start of 2015 | Jan 2020 | Today | Since 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 46,199 | 47,199 | 37,818 | 59,716 | 62,497 | +65% |
| California | 24,690 | 23,358 | 23,032 | 28,572 | 24,804 | +8% |
| Colorado | 14,515 | 12,670 | 12,639 | 15,734 | 13,602 | +8% |
| Idaho | 25,158 | 23,199 | 21,174 | 35,012 | 40,623 | +92% |
| Montana | 14,946 | 14,656 | 13,731 | 19,003 | 18,246 | +33% |
| Nevada | 221,192 | 209,516 | 195,005 | 293,273 | 265,894 | +36% |
| New Mexico | 13,019 | 11,866 | 10,489 | 12,787 | 14,431 | +38% |
| Oregon | 6,817 | 6,970 | 5,984 | 9,642 | 10,104 | +69% |
| South Dakota | 2,759 | 3,341 | 3,230 | 5,891 | 8,904 | ×2.8 |
| Utah | 21,511 | 19,293 | 19,788 | 27,467 | 41,604 | ×2.1 |
| Washington | 3,041 | 2,982 | 2,720 | 2,838 | 2,435 | −10% |
| Wyoming | 45,023 | 42,740 | 40,900 | 36,764 | 41,197 | +1% |
| All 12 states | 438,870 | 417,790 | 386,510 | 546,699 | 544,341 | +41% |
What changed since 2015
- Claims fell from 2013 to 2015. The 12 states went from 438,870 active claims to 386,510, a drop of about 12%. Gold prices fell hard in 2013, and fewer people paid to keep their claims.
- They came back by 2020 and have held steady since. January 2020 had 546,699, and today there are 544,341.
- Utah, South Dakota and Idaho grew the most. Since 2015, Utah went from 19,788 claims to 41,604, South Dakota from 3,230 to 8,904, and Idaho from 21,174 to 40,623.
- Nevada is still the giant. It has 265,894 active claims, more than the other 11 states put together, though fewer than its 293,273 in January 2020.
- Washington is the one state with fewer claims than in 2015, at 2,435 today.
A state total hides a lot. Claims are staked and dropped every week, so the same total can mean very different ground. For a single spot, check the BLM record before you stake or dig.
Lode and placer claims
Lode claims cover minerals in solid rock, like gold in quartz veins. Placer claims cover loose minerals in gravel, sand and old stream beds, the kind of gold you pan. Placer claims have grown faster than lode claims since 2015, though lode claims still far outnumber them.
| State | Lode claims | Placer claims | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Today | Change | 2015 | Today | Change | |
| Arizona | 32,913 | 55,915 | +70% | 4,905 | 6,582 | +34% |
| California | 12,879 | 14,327 | +11% | 10,153 | 10,477 | +3% |
| Colorado | 10,926 | 11,423 | +5% | 1,713 | 2,179 | +27% |
| Idaho | 18,976 | 37,712 | +99% | 2,198 | 2,911 | +32% |
| Montana | 11,040 | 15,467 | +40% | 2,691 | 2,779 | +3% |
| Nevada | 186,257 | 245,728 | +32% | 8,748 | 20,166 | ×2.3 |
| New Mexico | 9,214 | 13,448 | +46% | 1,275 | 983 | −23% |
| Oregon | 3,369 | 6,489 | +93% | 2,615 | 3,615 | +38% |
| South Dakota | 2,516 | 8,275 | ×3.3 | 714 | 629 | −12% |
| Utah | 17,895 | 28,243 | +58% | 1,893 | 13,361 | ×7.1 |
| Washington | 2,426 | 2,096 | −14% | 294 | 339 | +15% |
| Wyoming | 34,718 | 34,642 | 0% | 6,182 | 6,555 | +6% |
| All 12 states | 343,129 | 473,765 | +38% | 43,381 | 70,576 | +63% |
Claims staked each year since 1976
BLM’s records go back to 1976, when every existing claim had to be filed with the federal government. About 4.2 million claims in these 12 states are in BLM’s records, and most of them have since been closed.
See the numbers
| Year | Claims staked |
|---|---|
| 1976 | 87,128 |
| 1977 | 142,374 |
| 1978 | 156,637 |
| 1979 | 167,305 |
| 1980 | 186,074 |
| 1981 | 201,089 |
| 1982 | 130,258 |
| 1983 | 152,113 |
| 1984 | 121,362 |
| 1985 | 82,831 |
| 1986 | 111,733 |
| 1987 | 159,346 |
| 1988 | 178,753 |
| 1989 | 119,435 |
| 1990 | 86,943 |
| 1991 | 72,535 |
| 1992 | 74,816 |
| 1993 | 36,032 |
| 1994 | 35,754 |
| 1995 | 41,002 |
| 1996 | 55,770 |
| 1997 | 38,359 |
| 1998 | 24,257 |
| 1999 | 21,057 |
| 2000 | 19,405 |
| 2001 | 11,485 |
| 2002 | 23,474 |
| 2003 | 28,873 |
| 2004 | 45,389 |
| 2005 | 66,495 |
| 2006 | 67,030 |
| 2007 | 102,551 |
| 2008 | 52,075 |
| 2009 | 32,246 |
| 2010 | 38,963 |
| 2011 | 65,325 |
| 2012 | 49,068 |
| 2013 | 29,032 |
| 2014 | 22,859 |
| 2015 | 23,954 |
| 2016 | 42,183 |
| 2017 | 52,398 |
| 2018 | 46,497 |
| 2019 | 31,968 |
| 2020 | 46,926 |
| 2021 | 67,484 |
| 2022 | 69,662 |
| 2023 | 67,997 |
| 2024 | 45,743 |
- 1981 was the peak, with 201,089 claims staked in one year.
- 1993 was the big drop. That was the first year claim holders had to pay a $100 a claim yearly fee to keep them, and 587,678 claims closed that year, by far the most of any year in the records.
- 2001 was the low, with 11,485 claims staked.
- Staking picked up again in the mid 2000s and again from 2021 to 2023, at about 68,000 claims a year.
Who holds the claims
Most active claims are held by companies, not individual prospectors. Going by the names on the records, companies hold about 95% of the claims in Nevada, 92% in Utah and 90% in Arizona. California, Washington and Oregon have the largest share held by individuals, with companies at about 64% to 70%. These shares are estimates from claim holder names.
That matters if you prospect for fun: a big block of company claims is off limits, but the gaps between them, and the closed claims around them, may not be.
Where these numbers come from
- 2013 to 2015: Gold Maps Online’s own counts of active claims in BLM’s records at the start of each year.
- January 2020: Western Mining History’s published counts for the same 12 states.
- Today: Gold Maps Online’s count of BLM mining claim records, the same data the state maps are built from.
- Claims staked per year: Gold Maps Online analysis of BLM mining claim records, as of March 2025.
Every count here is lode plus placer claims. Mill sites and tunnel sites are left out. BLM claims don’t say which mineral they’re for, so these are all mining claims, not only gold claims. Counting methods differ a little between sources, so small changes between years can be noise. The big trends aren’t.
Questions
How many active mining claims are there?
There are 544,341 active lode and placer claims on federal land in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Alaska has about 9,500 more on federal land, plus claims on state land that BLM doesn’t track.
Which state has the most mining claims?
Nevada, by far. It has 265,894 active claims, about 49% of the 12-state total. Arizona is second with 62,497.
Are mining claims going up or down?
Up since 2015, flat since 2020. The 12 states had 386,510 active claims at the start of 2015 and have 544,341 today.
Can I see where the claims are?
Yes. The Gold Maps show every active and closed claim in a state on Google Earth, section by section, with old mines and prospects on a fifth layer.
How often are these numbers updated?
Today’s counts update whenever the maps are rebuilt from BLM’s records. The 2013 to 2020 counts are fixed.