Up the mountain ridge on the claim is also a good area to look for gems.

Our claim here is 13 miles south of the town of Leadville, in Lake County, Colorado, about a 25 minute drive from town.

40 minutes from the town of Buena Vista, and a little over a 2 hour drive from Denver.

This claim is in one of the top producing mineral districts in all of Colorado - and it doesnt get much more picturesque either. With a short drive to civilization for supplies and lodging, you have the best of both worlds on this claim - remote yet not so far away that you cant be comfortable.

National Forests remained open at all times during the virus with a televised invitation by the Director for families to visit them as safe places for family recreation, making our mining claims some of the safest places for your family to enjoy and get away from all the nonsense.

See further down the listing the buying process and my owner financing offered.

See with the pictures maps and satellite views.

Click on the top listing picture then arrow right to see all.

We feel we are selling more than the gold and minerals on beautiful land.

You would be acquiring an experience that will give you a good feel for what the old time

and the nearby creek has some good trout fishing.

Our lode claim has veins of valuable minerals including gold in veins (called lodes) cutting thru rocks.

Quartz and gold are frequently found together and digging into the quartz vein is called chasing the vein.

Veins of quartz, smoky quartz, and fluorite are on the claim.

According to geologists, lode gold deposits are present in many of this areas mountain sides.

The area once prospected by early settlers, these mountains are still considered to contain lode gold.

On the claim I found a quartz vein with gold traces in the rock.

Pick and shovel, rock hammer, metal detector, and is hard rock mining.

I did not expose the whole vein, though was able to follow it going through the claim, intermittently.

The process of lode, hard rock mining, is the process where gold is extracted directly from the lode vein beneath the ground. DIg down about 3 feet as go through the claim, then pick, shovel, and rock hammer working the sides of that hole. Filling in the holes when leave the claim as required by the national forest.

For the use of any machinery, you need to file a Plan of Operation with the BLM for approval.

Scratch your rock ore against an unglazed white ceramic streak plate.

If it's gold, it will leave a golden streak. Or scratch the surface of the specimen with a knife. Gold is a soft metal that will show scratch marks.

Rockhounding in Colorado

Starting with the rich gold and silver deposits which were the starting point of so many Colorado towns, the Centennial State, with over 770 types of minerals to be found, is second only to California in the number of different gems and minerals statewide.

Colorado is also host to a dizzying array of rocks and minerals. Some of the higher profile include dinosaur fossils.

Colorado can certainly be considered a rockhound and gem hunters dream.

The vast mountains of national forests gives one a newfound sense of exploration and discovery.

We feel we are selling more than a gold mining claim: to experience what the old time prospectors must have felt during the days of the original Colorado Gold Rush.

A mining claim is an affordable way to enjoy the beauty of the land combined with the adventure of panning for gold.

Owning a mining claim is having access to a lifetime of great family fun and recreation, in a very beautiful, natural setting.

There is a vein of a valuable minerals running thru the whole claim, in this case, quartz, gold, smoky quartz and fluorite.

You can also prospect on the whole claim, including the claim ridges for gems outside the lode mineral vein.

A lode claim has the most potential for finding valuable minerals.

A lode claim differs from our placer claims, as on a lode claim you can dig into the mountain side and can even go to the extent of building a mine shaft.

Having a lode claim is an advantage as you can dig into the claim with a shaft if you choose,

Colorado towns, the Centennial State, with over 770 types of minerals to be found, is second only to California in the number of different gems and minerals statewide.

Colorado is also host to a dizzying array of rocks and minerals. Some of the higher profile include dinosaur fossils.

Colorado can certainly be considered a rockhound and gem hunters dream.

The vast mountains of national forests gives one a newfound sense of exploration and discovery.

BUYING PROCESS:

To purchase my claim, the process would be, I would need your name(s) and mailing address. and which payment option you choose, where I would scan and email you a signed contract.

Total price of $3500, that can be paid in one full payment where your ownership is then transferred after receiving payment,

or $3500, paying $1750 first month, and $1750 2nd month,

or $3500, paying $1500 first month, $1000 2nd month, and $1000 3rd month,

or $3500, paying $700 per month for 5 months,

or $3500, paying $500 per month for 7 months,

or $3750, paying $375 per month for 10 months.

A $199 deed processing fee is paid with final payment.

Owner financing, No credit check. No interest charged.

No down payment

You can use the claim as yours while making monthly payments.

Ownership transfer after final monthly payment.

A signed contract will precede payment.

After receiving your final payment, your ownership of the 20.66 acre claim will be legally recorded with the Bureau of Land Management and Lake County

Besides gold, this area is also known for having precious and semi-precious gemstones, including the state named gemstone aquamarine, and gems such as fluorite, turquoise, crystals, opals, topaz, amethyst, and smoky quartz.

I am a retired teacher, and got into prospecting as a hobby with my family.

I am 73 and my wife 71, and we have gained the experience to select the best areas to locate claims.

If within one year you are not satisfied with your claim, you can trade for another comparable claim, just paying the BLM and County transfer fees which will be about $125.

You will also receive a free Prospecting Kit once you have paid for your claim that includes,

a Rockhounding Geology Hammer Tool, Rock Pick Axe, 3 PCS Digging Chisels Kit, with Musette Bag, and a Compass. See picture of that kit with the listing pictures.

Mining Claims as an investment: if you purchase a claim from us, at no charge, I would help you if you ever decided to sell in the future.

Mining Claims are a great investment, as claims go up in value over time, just as land does.

Gold and gems discovered in our own prospecting along with the beauty of the area, makes for awesome camping and prospecting.

This is a 20.66 acre unpatented, gold and gem mining lode claim, the Big Union Lode #2 claim with nearby Big Union Creek, in the Rocky Mountains and the San Isabel National Forest.

The claim is legally registered with the Bureau of Land Management out of Lakewood, CO and Lake County. You own the mineral rights, not sharing with others, on the 20.66 acres, and use your 20.66 acres recreationally for camping and prospecting in an awesome, beautiful area.

For any building like a shed, you need to file a Plan of Operation with the BLM for approval. For anything to live in, you would need to file a Plan of Operation with the BLM for approval, and to be considered, you would need to have developed a full-time mining operation.

For the possibility of constructing any building you for others could live in, you need to file a Plan of Operation with the BLM for approval, showing you have developed a full-time operation performing diligent mining.

You do not need a plan, permission nor a permit to camp and prospect.

You do not need to be a full time prospector to file a Plan for a shed type structure.

With an approved BLM Plan of Operation, a building can be built on the land: any building that benefits and improves the claim.

As stated by the BLM, this can be the "construction of a building, road, fence, or enclosure necessary for mining."

Current usage, is what the BLM calls, Casual Use: shovel, rock hammer, chisels, metal detector, where no permission nor permit is needed to camp and prospect.

On our visits to the claim, we gathered in the mineral vein, approx. 1/4 of an ounce of gold, being worth about $450. As the BLM does not specify the amount of gold to be found to locate a claim other than gold needs to be discovered, we use this amount for a 20.66 acre lode claim as a projection of good gold potential. Someone with more time may find more. Gold prices are over $2000/ounce. Though we could never guarantee what you will find, we did locate this claim in an historically rich area for gold and gem prospecting.

Gold in 2 years has gone up over $500 per ounce.

You are allowed to post No Trespassing for Prospecting signs in and around the claim.

A mining claim owner may limit or restrict public recreational use of/or public access across claims or portions of claims that are actively used for prospecting, mining, or processing operations where public recreational use of a claim would endanger or materially interfere with legitimate mining pursuits.

Camp by your claim or nearby national forest campgrounds.

A claim owner does not need permission nor a permit to camp and prospect.

You can prospect as little or as much as you like.

Now that we have located the claims, you never have to declare to the BLM any gold or gems you find.

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20.66 acres = parcel size of 600 ft. x 1500 ft.

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This claim in this wonderful area, has direct legal road access on a Forest Service Road, with areas for camping, and gold and gems discovered in using a rock hammer, chisel, and shovel while prospecting.

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Lake County is the fourth-smallest county in Colorado by area, with an estimated population in 2013 of 7,306. Leadville is the county seat and the only municipality. Home to Mount Elbert, the mountains summit at 14,440 feet is the highest peak both in Colorado and the whole Rocky Mountain Range.

The town of Leadville is surrounded by some of the best scenery in Colorado, Mount Elbert and Mount Massive, the largest mountains in the state. Those, along with several large lakes, makes Leadville an excellent hub for outdoor recreation. Hiking, biking, camping and skiing are all common.

Downtown Leadville is a national historic district, full of Old West structures, Victorian houses and sites from Leadvilles mining past. Dining and accommodations are easy to find in this low-budget town. Just far enough from Denver, Leadville provides the peace and quiet you need, when you need it. You will get a good feel for what the Old West was like.

The towns central location in the Rockies make it an outdoor playground.

Anything high mountain is game here, including fishing, climbing and off highway driving.

Downtown Leadville is home to one of the Wests most impressive historic districts, listed in 1961 to the National Register of Historic Places. Harrison Avenue is home to several blocks of dining and shopping; its easy to stay entertained strolling the streets of Leadville.

Big, beautiful, deep blue Turquoise Lake sits less than 5 miles west of Leadvilles historic district. It wonderful for year round recreation, including fantastic fishing and boating in the summer. There are over 300 campsites surrounding the lake, so its one of the best places to camp close to town.

Twin Lakes is also nearby with great fishing and awesome scenery,

This claim in this wonderful area has direct legal road access on a National Forest Service Road, with an area for camping, and gold and gems discovered in hard rock prospecting.

San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 53 fourteeners, peaks over 14,000 feet (4,267 m) high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado.

The Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands covers nearly three million acres from western Kansas and Colorado's highest mountain peaks along the Continental Divide. This landscape offers a variety of ecosystems rich in history, geology, scenery, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities.

These diverse Forests and Grasslands range from the short grass prairies of the eastern grasslands to the alpine tundra of the northern districts, and all of the variety in between.

This Forest complex celebrates a wealth of significant experiences from historic cabin rentals to the birthplace of developed recreation on the San Carlos Ranger District. The Comanche Ranger District lays claim to the internationally-known dinosaur trackway at Pickewire Canyon. And on the South Platte Ranger District, you'll find the historic Devil's Head Lookout Tower.

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A transfer of ownership is a sale of legal, exclusive ownership of a mining claim site. To be a legally recorded claim, gold or gems had to be found on the claim, which was completed by me and my wife, as we are the original claim locators.

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Your ownership is legally conveyed via a Quit Claim deed, and legally recorded with the BLM and Lake County. A Quit Claim deed is the required legal document per the BLM.

Each year, on or before September 1st, you need to file a form with the Bureau of Land Management, along with $200. By doing this, you keep the claim forever.

The fee can also be paid online by credit card with the BLM.

I have paid the fee for the new claim year, not due again until September 1, 2025.

There are no taxes on mining claims in Lake County.

You must be a current US citizen with a US address to own a mining claim in the US.

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An unpatented mining claim is a specific parcel of federal land, valuable for a specific mineral deposit or deposits. It is a parcel for which an individual has asserted a legal right of possession and the right to develop and extract a discovered, valuable, mineral deposit.

Mining claims are real property that you can buy, sell, or inherit. After proving the existence of valuable minerals on the land, the claim is legally recorded with the Bureau of Land Management and Lake County.

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The Big Union Lode #2 claim is an unpatented, gold and gem lode mining claim, ideally situated on a mountain ridge surrounded by beautiful Rocky Mountain ranges.

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Your 20.66 acres is in the SW 1/4 and part of the NW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 20, Township 10 South, Range 79 West, 6th Prime Meridian, known as the Big Union Lode #2 mining claim, in the Rocky Mountains.

BLM claim number: CO106391547

DRIVING DIRECTIONS:

Take County Road 24 south out of Leadville.

To straight on County Road 7, that becomes also Forest Service Road 425, being the claim road,

Then using GPS coordinates below and maps on the listing to the claim.

Is about 25 minutes from Leadville south to the claim, 13 miles.

GPS Coordinates:

Big Union Lode #2

NW 39.1687, -106.2515

NE 39.1687, -106.2494

SW 39.1648, -106.2515

SE 39.1648, -106.2494

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The claim location monument has a 4 foot wooden post near the river, with copy of Location Notice attached, as required by the State of Colorado.

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Being on a mountain ridge is a unique advantage for lode gold prospecting.

Gold occurs in gravels in the metallic state and when so found has various physical characteristics. Gold is dense and heavy, it has a characteristic metallic color, and it is soft and easily malleable (it is easily formed by hammering). These are the characteristics used by prospectors to identify gold in the field.

Lode gold occurs on the claim derived from gossan formed by weathering, and oxidation of the gold, copper, quartz, and iron rich veins. Gold also occurs as grains flakes and small nuggets derived from the erosion of mineralized fault zones.

Quartz is a good sign for gold and the claim vein is quartz/gold.

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Additional Features:

Fishing in the nearby Big Union Creek and area lakes.

Beautiful Rock specimens for you Rock Hounds

Located in one of the most beautiful mountain areas in the US.

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The Federal Government owns the land.

You are purchasing the mineral rights.

You own the mineral rights, including gold and gems on the claim, as real property, being the same legal ownership as for land and homes.

Prospect, explore, on the whole 20.66 acres.

You can camp by the claim while prospecting.

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TERMS

BUYING PROCESS:

To purchase my claim, the process would be, I would need your name(s) and mailing address. and which payment option you choose, where I would scan and email you a signed contract.

Total price of $3500, that can be paid in one full payment where your ownership is then transferred after receiving payment,

or $3500, paying $1750 first month, and $1750 2nd month,

or $3500, paying $1500 first month, $1000 2nd month, and $1000 3rd month,

or $3500, paying $700 per month for 5 months,

or $3500, paying $500 per month for 7 months,

or $3750, paying $375 per month for 10 months.

A $199 deed processing fee is paid with final payment.

Owner financing, No credit check. No interest charged.

No down payment.

You can use the claim as yours while making monthly payments.

Ownership transfer after final monthly payment.

A signed contract will precede payment.

After receiving your final payment, your ownership of the 20.66 acre claim will be legally recorded with the Bureau of Land Management and Lake County. The quit claim deed is the correct document to be recorded for a mining claim, as stated by the BLM.

This is not a sharing with others of your 20.66 acre claim.

We live in Ohio. Our connection to Colorado is our daughter lives in Denver, though she is not involved with our claims. We visited her in September, then went to prospect and locate mining claims, as we have been doing for a number of years.

And just a note of encouragement for you if purchase:

My wife and I have located, prospected on, and sold mining claims in

California, Colorado, Arizona, and now also Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota, for now over 25 years.

You can trust we will process your notarized deeds correctly and quickly.

In that mining claims are processed thru the Bureau of Land Management, a Federal Govt. agency, not following thru per our legally signed contract, would be a federal crime. I certainly will do what I say, and would never put myself nor my wife in any legal jeopardy.

Also, we have sold properties on 3 sites online for over 25 years:

Landwatch, Landcom, and LandandFarm.

Our continued good status on these sites is due to our always following thru, as just one time we would not, we would not be allowed to sell on these sites ever again.

COMMENTS FROM SATISFIED CLAIM BUYERS:

"Living in Colorado, the purchase of our mining claim from you has been great for family fun and recreation. We have camped overnight a number of times, and panned for gold in the creek. We were even able to find gold flakes on several of our attempts. Thank you so much!."

I'm looking forward to having some time on the mining claim.

We used to go camping 4-6 weeks out of the year.

Even though I realize this is a retirement business for you. I wanted to say thank you for giving so many people over the years the opportunity to purchase your claims. I've seen them available for a long time, but never had the opportunity to purchase anything. They have probably brought many smiles to so many people. It will be the same for us.

"We purchased 2 mining claims from Michael Leu over the last 2 years, one in California, and one In Colorado. We have been to our claims on several occasions, and we could not be happier! They are exactly as described, and our camping on our claims and prospecting in the creek on each claim is the highlight of our vacations. You can trust Mr. Leu. If you are looking for a great time in the awesome beauty of the west, buying a mining claim from Mr. Leu will be a blessing."