Iron County (Utah). County Recorder Mining location notices (placer claims), 1905-1965.

Federal mining laws have provided that valuable mineral deposits in the public domain remain free and open to exploration and that the locators of the same have exclusive right of possession. The first step toward ownership of mineral deposits is the discovery of a potentially productive site and recording the claim or notice of location. Notices of location fall into two basic categories, which the Iron County recorder kept in separate books. Lode claims are identified sections of veins of quartz or other rock, bearing valuable deposits such as silver or gold, and are identified in terms of feet along the lode. Placer claims include other forms of deposit, typically petroleum, and are defined by identifying a tract of land encompassing the deposit. Location notices in this series include placer claims only. Each notice names the claim and includes the name or names of locators, the mining district, a description of the land, the dates of location and recording, and an explanation ofthe mining laws which authorize the claim.