Gold Claims For Sale

Utah is abuzz about a gold reclamation company that has claimed a local cave whose previous owner's mining claim had expired.  The Crystal Ball Cave Mine's claim expired in 2005, and was claimed in June 2009 by Corey Shuman of Gold Rush Expeditions.

The cave has been a tourist attraction for nearly 15 years that was lead by Jerald Bates and family.  The cave is called the Crystal Ball because everything is covered in a shiny crystal surface.  There are rumors of silver, gold, and platinum gold veins, but I could not confirm that.  However, the family let the claim expire in 2005.

The reason for the hub bub is that the current claim is up for auction right now on eBay.  Federals and BLM are claiming this is illegal because the property is protected because of law that protects caves.  The only issue with this law is the following:

There is no case precedent because the Cave Protection Act specifically states that it will not interfere with mining claims:

Sec. 4308. Miscellaneous provisions
(d) Existing rights
Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to affect the full operation of the mining and mineral leasing laws of the United States, or otherwise affect valid existing rights.

I am limited in my knowledge on this, but it looks to me that GRE, Inc is covered because mineral leasing has over riding rights on the cave.  I believe Mr. Shuman is in his legal bounds, but I also believe he might be up for some legal battle especially how environmentalists and the green movement have upped the ante in what they are willing to do, legal or not, to change laws in their favor.

But, here is why I am writing this article:  I did some further researching and found some interesting things about this mining claim:

• Previously the Bates had 3 different claims: Crystal Ball 1, Crystal Ball 2, ***
• Crystal Ball 1 and most likely Crystal Ball 2 are on GRE, Inc.'s current claim
• ** *** *** claim is believed to be currently unclaimed(that is if their are 3 separate caves or cave openings)
• GRE, Inc's mining claim is at coordinates UT:26, Sec:25, T: 15S, R:20W
• But the closed claim also existed at UT **,SEC:**,T:***,R:** which is currently UNCLAIMED

Is this significant or not?  I don't know.  Just thought it is interesting that their might be more claims available, and I wonder why GRE, inc did not claim this part of the claim or if they know.

So, am I going to go out and stake a claim near the area?  With the controversy and federal/blm claims to fight the legality of this, definitely not.

In conclusion, I believe that Shuman and GRE are within their legal right of staking the claim(as long as their are proven minerals that can be mined) and I believe there may be more land in the area whose mineral rights are unclaimed.