t any time, there are between 40,000 and 42,000 mining claims in Alaska. And with the price of gold hovering around $4,500 per ounce, the interest in trying to strike gold is increasing. In the spring of 2006, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Division of Mining, Land, and Water faced a backlog of 2,000 to 2,300 filings awaiting review. Anticipating that claims will continue to increase, DNR staff offered a half-day course at the 2026 Alaska Miners Association Biennial Convention so future miners can understand what is required to initiate and record a valid mining location.

DNR geologist Aaron Nickols says the key to successfully initiating a valid mining location is to remember that mining is a business. Therefore, active miners must obtain an Alaska business license and an Alaska Mining License from the Alaska Department of Revenue before staking any claims or filing any paperwork. The only exception is true recreational mining, which can be done without a permit unless dredging in fish bearing streams. However, if a mining operation intends to run a commercial recreational mining venture, it must have the appropriate business licenses so that the department can collect the 3 percent production royalties and the Mining License Tax (up to 7 percent) on mineral sales.

“A lot of times, people have the impression that they’re going to stake a couple of claims and go out with their kids or their grandkids to mine,” says Nickols. “But the reality is, when you acquire a mineral right, you have a business, and you need to treat it like one because you have requirements.”

The Alaska Constitution allows for self-initiated claims, the right to stake and possess a parcel of land by any current or pending United States citizen for the purpose of exploring and extracting minerals on state public lands prior to government permission or administration action. To stake a claim, a person need only post a location notice in the physical area.

“Only,” except posting the notice requires tromping through unimproved terrain to locate the northeast corner of the property. By law, that is where a piece of paper, typically a standard 8.5-by-11-inch sheet, is attached to Monument #1, which could be a literal wooden stake in the ground. The sheet had better be waterproof, or sealed in a jar or plastic bag, and firmly affixed to resist strong wind or mischievous animals. The paper shows a map of the area being claimed, its legal description, the date and time of the staking, the legal name and address of the claimant, and a unique identifier for the claim. This is where seemingly arbitrary monikers like the aspirational “Fort Knox” and initially frivolous “Pogo” originate.

However, that is just the start of the process. To make the claim valid and acquire a location certificate, a miner must undergo discovery to prove that there are valuable mineral deposits on site in quantities sufficient to make development feasible.

Nickols says DNR typically does not ask for proof of discovery; however, the law requires that step. As a business, it is important to have proof of mineral deposits, especially if the company is ever litigated.

“The court will ask for it because that is in the statute,” says Nickols. “We don’t ask for it because we assume you’ve completed it.”

Likewise, when the owners of a mining operation sign at the bottom of a location certificate, they are affirming under penalty of perjury that they are aware of all applicable statutes and regulations, including the discovery process. But before DNR can issue a location certificate, the owners must complete all the paperwork necessary to record the claim. This is a detailed process that can make or break the claim, so Nickols suggests using all available resources.

The first thing Nickols suggests is becoming very familiar with Alaska’s mining statutes and regulations. He says the regulations on the Division of Mining, Land, and Water page on the DNR website guide placer and hard rock mining, distinguish among different mining locations, and describe the circumstances under which a mining location requires a lease rather than a claim. Nickols emphasizes that miners themselves have a responsibility to monitor any changes to the statutes and regulations. With more than 40,000 mine locations in Alaska, state authorities lack the resources to send change notices to all parties every time something changes.

A research priority for anyone starting a mining claim is identifying which lands are available for mining. One resource on the DNR website is the Alaska Mapper program, which helps prospective miners identify state lands open to claims. Though Alaska is a large state, the land has federal, state, Alaska Native, and other private owners and managers. Alaska Mapper also allows users to identify land owned or managed by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority and by the University of Alaska.

Alaska Mapper also shows what areas have already been staked. Nickols notes that new claims are submitted all the time, so an area may appear unclaimed on Alaska Mapper while paperwork is being processed. He says this shouldn’t deter anyone from prospecting a location or even filing a claim in the same area, since common paperwork errors might prevent DNR from issuing a location certificate. Until a recorded document is noted on Alaska Mapper, any state location open to mining is available to claim.

In addition to serving as a reference guide, Alaska Mapper includes a claim sketch pack that lets users create a custom map showing the outline of the claim area. However, DNR geologist Walter Zimmerman says it is vital that the final map is printed in black and white.

“This requirement was meant for fax machines, which do not have color,” says Zimmerman. “A color map run through a fax machine will come out illegible on the other side. And then we have to reject the map. So, no color.”

To ensure the map is legible, he recommends darkening the outline with a pen or marker after printing it.

One last feature in Alaska Mapper that helps with the application process is showing legal descriptions of a land area. In mining, a legal description is a precise written statement used to identify the exact boundaries of claims. The paperwork used by DNR requires the Aliquot Part description that divides land using the Public Land Survey System into a geographical hierarchy: meridian, township, range, section, quarter section, and quarter-quarter section. Alaska Mapper will produce a legal description in a pullout box, making it easier for the miner when submitting a claims application.

Once a claim is staked and discovery completed, all that’s left is to officially record it. This means obtaining an Alaska Division of Lands (ADL) number, completing the paperwork, and paying rent. Since 1989, the state has charged annual rents of approximately $1 per acre, in the form of a flat fee for a 40-acre small claim or $165 for a quarter-section claim, and roughly doubling every five years the claim matures. The state also requires “sweat equity” of at least $100 worth of work per year on a small claim, or a payment in lieu of labor. Other land managers have different rental structures.

However, Nickols says a lot can go wrong during this time-sensitive, detailed process. First, many people fail to complete their filing and pay rent within the initial forty-five-day period, and other critical errors can also cause DNR to deny a location certificate. Among the most common errors are filling out the wrong form, listing an incorrect location description, drawing an incorrect location on a map, or entering an incorrect posting date that would put the application outside the forty-five-day period.

“These are what we call fatal errors,” says Nickols. “They’re errors that are uncorrectable. There is nothing you can do to fix this except to start over.”

He adds that, even once a location certificate is acquired, the mining operation still needs to keep up on its paperwork and annual rent. Failure to perform “sweat equity” or make a payment in lieu of annual labor; failure to record a certificate of location or a statement of annual labor in a timely fashion; or failure to pay annual rental fees and royalties would constitute abandonment under state statutes. Abandonment results in claimholder loss, and the area immediately becomes open to staking by others.

Mining operations can cure abandonment, provided nobody else has staked a claim in the area, by recording overdue documents and paying rent and royalties, plus a penalty fee equal to the annual rent for the claim. If abandonment is not cured, the now-defunct stakeholder, or anyone directly associated with them, must wait a full calendar year before posting a claim in that area again.

“It behooves you not to mess up the documentation,” says Nickols.

Ultimately, Nickols says that anyone with questions about the process of staking claims and filing for a location certificate should contact DNR, especially if they are having trouble finding information or interpreting it. He says staff can also help miners understand the mapping process or the form details. However, with DNR’s backlog of current claims and a forty-five-day filing deadline, he says it’s best to contact the department sooner rather than later.