BLM Colorado | Minerals

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Colorado



BLM>Colorado>Programs>Minerals

Print Page

Minerals

Minerals Program

With BLM's unique mandate of multiple use, management of the lands is based on balancing the use of lands and resources to obtain an ecologically sound environment, contribute to the mineral and energy needs of a strong economy, and provide a reasonable return to the federal treasury for the use of government lands and resources.

Although the federal government manages 36 percent of Colorado's surface lands, it manages over 41 percent of the mineral estate.

The BLM minerals program consists of administrative processing and field work aspects associated with offering minerals for public use, including mining and reclamation plan review, environmental assessment, cost recovery, appraisals, trespass, inspection and enforcement/production verification (I&E/PV). Active pits are regularly inspected for compliance with the approved mining and reclamation plan. Production verification is performed to ensure the mined tonnage is reported correctly for royalty payment. Periodic appraisals are conducted to determine royalty values for different mineral materials. Record keeping and disposal actions include LR2000 entry, case file documentation, and updating MIS for the units of accomplishments.

Minerals Home

Putting Minerals Into Perspective

To put the minerals program into perspective, consider the relative amounts of land used in mining operations nationwide. Approximately 6 million acres are used by active and inactive operations out of the total land area in the United States of about 2.2 billion acres. This figure represents less than one percent of the total land area. By comparison, other examples of land use in the United States include 88 million acres of wildlife refuges, 35 million acres of designated wilderness areas, 32 million acres of highways, 77 million acres of National Parks and Monuments, 950 million acres of agricultural land, and 78 million acres of urban areas.

The federal government manages 36 percent of Colorado's 66 million surface acres and more than 41 percent of the mineral estate. Of the 27 million acres of federal minerals managed by the BLM in Colorado, about 20,000 acres are presently occupied by active mineral operations.

Mineral Production

Mineral development is an important land use within BLM's multiple-use program. Mineral production on public land in Colorado involves three distinct categories: locatable, leasable, and salable minerals.

Locatable
Location involves minerals like gold and silver and other metallic elements and uncommon varieties of non-metallic deposits. Under the general mining laws, such as the Mining Law of 1872, mining claims and sites include the possessory right to the locatable minerals. For more information see our mining claim frequently asked questions page.

Leasable
Oil and gas, coal, geothermal, sodium, and other similar minerals are available through mineral leasing. Leases are issued for specific periods of time, and the lessee pays a rental fee and royalties on the minerals produced.

Salable
Common sand, gravel, and other construction and landscaping materials are available through material sales at fair market value or through free use permits and government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

Rockhounding, Fossil Hunting, and Recreational Mining
Rockhounding, gold panning and suction dredging (less than 8 horsepower and 4" suction nozzle or less) are considered recreational activities that are allowed on most BLM lands. Limits and procedures for properly prospecting and collecting for some minerals, as well as fossil hunting, are explained in the brochure BLM Colorado Rockhounding & Fossil Collecting .