Mitkof Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Good Morning, Hey, Chris, Gerry, Rex, Doc, etc… I could use an update on Majuba Placers at Rye Patch. I haven’t been there in 5+ years and two issues jump to mind.1) I was looking at picking up a piece of pvt ground in Majuba Range for MDing and maybe run a cow or two. At the 11th hour I discovered that Newmont had signed a 20 year mineral lease on the whole 600+ acres in April 2009. I have a copy of the lease agreement and realized that if I bought that ground I’d need permission from Newmont to MD on my own property. Question: Has Newmont locked up any of the mineral rights on Majuba Placers sec 19, 17, 29, and 7 ??? (Sidebar: my wife is smarter than me, so we put our investment $$$ in a Precious Metals mutual fund instead.)2) I read lots of discussion over the years about east half of Sec 19 and Sec 17 placers. Question: Has anyone heard of placer on Sec 7 or 29 ??? Like Reno Chris said years ago sometimes it’s better to just go out and seek new prospects rather than hunting leftovers. True words of wisdom I might add, from the wise one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~LARGO~ Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Hello, I am not one you mentioned above, but here is a link: http://lovelockland.com/ there has been a lot a road building southerly from what people think as Rye Patch placers. I don't know if the property shown in the link includes the mineral rights, but you could probably run some cows if you could find some water. Feed likely sparse. Good luck in your quest, I am sure there are some that can give you some insight as to your question. There was a gold company out last spring, by 19 I think, doing some survey work for future test drilling. Have not heard further as to what has come of that.~LARGO~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitkof Posted January 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Thanks Largo, I figure Newmont is going for the whole ball of wax from private owners. They're not after the surface placer (nuggets), but the vein source for larger commercial ops. The land I looked at was in Sec 1, NW of Sec 17 placers. It has water (spring) and good road excess from the north. Lots of prospects in this area, but placer would have come from Mt Majuba itself. If it even exists... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexb Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexb Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Mitkof Fritz,Newmont did have an agreement with a few guys that allowed them access to bulldoze or scrape some areas of Newmont land and detect it. I do not know of the present status of that agreement, but it was in place a couple years ago. One of the members of the team did construction work building temporary housing for the Newmont miners and got the permission. Newmont is not looking to entertain other agreements though, I don't know if they would give you permission if you owned the land without mineral rights to it. I imagine they would not be particularly interested in granting access, but it's true they aren't really interested in the placers themselves. If I remember right, they owned mineral rights at least to section 17, but they have no problem with people metal detecting (as long as you don't bring in any power equipment similar to the group with the one agreement). You can even metal detect old scrapes without any problem.I would still verify everything you can with Newmont if you're considering making a purchase, (due diligence) just let them know your situation and intentions. Hopefully they would be up front with information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rexb Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Mitkof Fritz,Newmont did have an agreement with a few guys that allowed them access to bulldoze or scrape some areas of Newmont land and detect it. I do not know of the present status of that agreement, but it was in place a couple years ago. One of the members of the team did construction work building temporary housing for the Newmont miners and got the permission. Newmont is not looking to entertain other agreements though, I don't know if they would give you permission if you owned the land without mineral rights to it. I imagine they would not be particularly interested in granting access, but it's true they aren't really interested in the placers themselves. If I remember right, they owned mineral rights at least to section 17, but they have no problem with people metal detecting (as long as you don't bring in any power equipment similar to the group with the one agreement). You can even metal detect old scrapes without any problem.I would still verify everything you can with Newmont if you're considering making a purchase, (due diligence) just let them know your situation and intentions. Hopefully they would be up front with information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitkof Posted January 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Hi Rex, yep if I bought that 600+ ac then I'd own the mineral rights too. But that Newmont 20 yr lease would still exist, just with the new owner... me. So yep, I'd have to deal with them directly about MDing on my own land.Next item... so Sec. 17 (in 2005 railroad mineral rights, BLM surface ownership) you think Newmont now controls minerals, interesting. Do you know if Newmont purchased or just leased them from the owner like on Sec. 1??? Weird part is BLM LR200 doesn't address private mineral rights like those on Sec. 17. I'll be in that part of the world last part of March or in April, maybe I'll see ya there. I'll have a Chevy 1ton with poptop camper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~LARGO~ Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Hello Mitkof, I will be watching the weather there, and have been planning for some time to be in that same general area. Google this: Minterra Corporation You may be able to find some contact addresses, or phone numbers there.I believe the area you referred to above is the Last Chance Mine area, that I believe is owned/leased by the Minterra Corp. They were doing some significant test drilling high up on Majuba itself. Their property takes in Majuba, and significant property surrounding it. How significant in size it may be, I have no idea now, as they have taken down maps they originally had on their company web site. You may, however, have more success contacting them, as to their holdings and intentions in that area. I signed up for email updates, but have not received any for some time. I think they flat ran out of funds...~LARGO~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitkof Posted January 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Hi Largo, thanks I'll check out Minterra.Do you know anything about the Sec 19 and 17 placers. Are they still available? Rex was sounding like Sec 17 is still good to go. Also have you worked at all on Sec. 29 or 7 ?I've also got some old notes on prospects south of Majuba placers. I'll need to research open/closed claims and maybe spend some time source hunting. I'm always looking over the next hill wandering...I've got to get up on LR2000 again (dang I hate that site...) The old ALIS system in Alaska worked great and I threw some rocks at LR2000 administrator a few years back and I know they did an update. Hopefully it works better now. I'd rather fight bugs at Ikpikpuk than deal with LR2000, but that's my problem.Keep smiling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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