Free · the historical archive
The historical mining-claim archive. BLM forgets. LodeFinder doesn’t.
BLM’s public closed-claims layer is a rolling ~1-year window — a lapsed claim rolls off it and is gone from the live record. We keep what it drops: 3,805,867 closed claims on file, searchable free by serial, name, or state.
Look up any claim on file
By serial number, claim-name prefix, or state. Records show the claim and its dated dispositions where BLM recorded them — we never invent a date BLM didn’t publish.
Closed claims on file, by state
Every tile is shaded by its real archive count — 3,805,867 records in all. Tap a state to search it. (A geographic cartogram: tiles are placed by rough position, not to scale.)
Nevada holds nearly a third of the record
1,088,118 closed claims on file in Nevada alone — the deepest district history in the country, then Utah, Arizona, and California.
Counts are exact archive totals. This is the state-level view — run a search above to see the matching claims pinned on a map. About 98% of records carry a mappable BLM coordinate; the rest have no polygon on file, so we don’t place them — we never pin a claim we can’t locate.
Pulled straight from the archive
Three actual claims with their dated BLM disposition history — ground that was proven, held for years, and has now rolled off BLM’s live layer.
BLM disposition history
BLM disposition history
BLM disposition history
Dated actions appear only because BLM recorded them. For most closed claims the record carries the claim on file without a dated closure — we surface exactly what BLM published and never fill in a date it didn’t. BLM is the authoritative source; verify before you act.
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Archive questions
What the archive holds, why BLM’s live layer forgets, and what’s free.
What's in the LodeFinder archive?
The archive holds 3,805,867 closed U.S. BLM mining claims, each with its serial number, claim name, claim type, acreage, and state, plus dated disposition actions where BLM recorded them. It covers the twelve Western states BLM tracks claims in, plus the BLM Eastern States office. Search is free, by serial, claim name, type, acreage, or state.
Why do closed claims disappear from BLM's website?
BLM's public closed-claims layer is a rolling window of roughly one year. Once a lapsed claim has been closed for about a year, it rolls off that live layer and is no longer returned by BLM's public search. LodeFinder preserves those records after they roll off, so the claim stays searchable here. BLM remains the authoritative source for a claim's current status.
Do all archived claims have a closure date?
No. Dated closures exist for only about 110,000 of the 3,805,867 records — the ones where BLM published a dated "Claim Abandoned/Forfeited" action. For the rest, the archive shows the full claim on file without a drop date, because BLM's older records don't carry one. We surface exactly what BLM published and never fill in a date it didn't.
Is the archive free to search?
Yes. Archive search is free and needs no account — look up any closed claim by serial, claim name, type, acreage, or state. Catching the next drop the morning it happens, scored with a stakeability verdict, is the paid $29/month feed ($290/year); alerts are delivered by email only.
The record stays. The ground goes in days.
Searching what already lapsed is free. Catching the next drop the morning it happens — scored, with a stakeability verdict — is the $29/mo feed.