Mining Claim Records

There are several 'possible' sources for additional information.

But without knowing the State involved (even better the Mining District), an outline of the possibilities would run on forever.

Loyal

Many of the USLM's are shown on the Quad Sheets.
That would be a good start.
Also most of the USLM's give a Latitude and Longitude in the field notes.
That should help.
If you find the USLM the mining claim is tied to, then you have to have the correct compass declination to get close to one of the claim corners.
If it is an unpatented mining claim, it has probably passed on and is not valid any longer.
If it is a patented mining claim there should be other calls in the field notes that will assist in positioning the claim on the quad sheet so you can have better luck in finding it on the ground.
So who owns the claim now? Can't you ask them? Many times there are old timers in the mining districts who have a good sense of where things are or even how to find missing information.
There are U.S. Mineral Surveyors who post occasionally on here. Maybe one of them will respond.

> Spent my career searching for a lost mining claim. I've spent numerous days looking for diggings and stones to no avail.

Would help if you provided more information.

Is it a placer or load claim?

What era was it mined?

What state/county?

Are you simply interested in finding the minerals or is there some sort of patent claim involved?

The most overlooked source I know of is the legacy tax maps in some County archives. In many Western States that includes the County next door if the lines have migrated over time.
Many Assessors were good about keeping notes on the parcels or in the margins to track what the sketched in lines represented. It is also common the see dimensions from surveys noted.
I am no advocate of surveying from a tax map, but ignoring any source of evidence will eventually bite you..

More information:
It's a silver Patented load claim located in Montana in the Running Wolf Mining District in the 1890's. The USLM location was mislocated in the wrong section, So the GLO did not tie it when they surveyed the township in the early 1900's. Somebody picked up on the mislocation and penciled in a different Section number on the County's tax Map. The Forest Service's Office records also have the same corrected Section penciled in. The Original Patentee was a Great Falls, Montana founding father Herbert Chowen. He probably never visited the claim. He only had daughters and there are none of his personal papers archived anywhere that I could find. I did find a reference of a Drawer M located in Denver, but could never find a source that had knowledge of a Drawer for Mining claims.
The Mineral Surveyor was James Monroe. He did several other claims in the general area about the same time. He marked his monuments very well and set corners exactly like he described. His surveying is beyond reproach. I'm probably the oldest person around with any knowledge of the area left alive. The present owner bought the claim on speculation and he and the past owner have no idea where it might be located. The only description of the USLM is that it lies 600 feet North of Running Wolf Creek. Unfortunately Running Wolf Creek has two branches in this area. There were two tunnels constructed on the claim long enough to have generated detectable tailings. There are no Lat Long location in the Patent and USLM documents. After several years of searching I have found no tailings or diggings in any of the suspected location areas. The State BLM Office has no records other than the Patent documents. The Archive records I obtained from the National Archives has all the documents pertaining to the claim, but none contain hints on where it might be located. Some where there has to have been a map or directions to the Mineral Surveyor on how to get to the claim.

Hope you don't mind, but I re-posted your inquiry so it would be on the first page where it will get more attention.

It's titled "Mining Claim Records TTT"