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Mining In Kern County, California

Kern County, California has 15,294 records of mining claims on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and 653 records of mines listed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Quick Facts

  • 15,294 records of mining claims on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
  • 1,581 active mining claims
  • 13,713 closed mining claims
  • 653 USGS records of mines in Kern County, California.
  • Gold , Tungsten , Copper , Silver , and Uranium mines located in Kern County, California. See All

Claims Summary

in Kern County, California

  • 15,294 Total
  • 1,581 Active
  • 13,713 Closed
Browse All Claims

Mines Summary

in Kern County, California

  • 653 Total
  • 65 Occurrences
  • 191 Prospects
  • 3 Plants
  • 394 Producers
Browse All Mines
Kern County Mine Locations

Kern County Mine Locations

Click to open an interactive map.

© The Diggings™

Recently Updated Mining Claims

Most recently updated claims in Kern.

  1. JAWBONE CANYON #1

    • $165 fee 20.66 acres Active disposition
    • Kern, California
    • Ashanti Minerals Group LLC
    • Lode Claim
    Read More

  2. DOUBLE DOOR MINE

    • $165 fee 20.66 acres Active disposition
    • Kern, California
    • Department of Land Transfer Information Inc.
    • Lode Claim
    Read More

  3. GYPSUM QUEEN 4

    • $330 fee 40 acres Active disposition
    • Kern, California
    • Sheila E. Mathewson et al.
    • Placer Claim
    Read More

  4. TOLERANCE

    • $165 fee 20 acres Active disposition
    • Kern, California
    • Michael J. Downey
    • Placer Claim
    Read More

  5. HONEY BEE #1

    • $1320 fee 160 acres Active disposition
    • Kern, California
    • Dower Ranch For Childrens Foundation et al.
    • Placer Claim
    Read More
View All

Mining Claims (BLM)

Kern County, California has 15,294 mining claims on public land listed in The Diggings™. Of these claims, 10.34% are active while 89.66% are now closed.

Quick BLM Facts

  • 15,294 records of mining claims on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
  • 1,581 records of active mining claims
  • 13,713 records of closed mining claims
Browse All Claims

Mine By Disposition

In Kern

COUNTY Authorized mines
closed 13713
active 1581

Kern County, California Mining Image Gallery

  1. Excel Mineral Company plant, looking west.
    Excel Mineral Company, 1975 William Clark Courtesy of California Geological Survey
  2. View to north of the Operator Divide Mine. Gold ore is mined each summer from inclined shaft in saddle between the two highest peaks in upper right of photo.
    Operator Divide Mine, 1961 Courtesy of California Geological Survey
  3. Cactus Mine near Mojave, Kern County; blasthole drill in operation.
    Cactus Mine John Burnett, DMG Courtesy of California Geological Survey
  4. Heap leach pad at the Cactus Mine, near Mojave, south-central Kern County.
    Cactus Mine John Burnett, DMG Courtesy of California Geological Survey
  5. Echo Mining Company's plant near Mojave
    Echo Mining Company, 1910 Courtesy of California Geological Survey
  6. Thomson, Boyle, and Karma mills near Mojave.
    Thompson and Bolye, and Karma Mine, 1903 Marion Aubury © Marion Aubury Courtesy of California Geological Survey
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Kern County, California Trends Overview

January 2021 vs. January 2020

Mining Trends

2012 216 opened claims 35 transfered claims 92 closed claims2013 491 opened claims 43 transfered claims 50 closed claims2014 86 opened claims 39 transfered claims 159 closed claims2015 64 opened claims 435 transfered claims 101 closed claims2016 88 opened claims 61 transfered claims 37 closed claims2017 30 opened claims 15 transfered claims 48 closed claims2018 21 opened claims 12 transfered claims 59 closed claims2019 44 opened claims 23 transfered claims 20 closed claims2020 71 opened claims 11 transfered claims 2 closed claims2021Opened2012 216 opened claims 35 transfered claims 92 closed claims2013 491 opened claims 43 transfered claims 50 closed claims2014 86 opened claims 39 transfered claims 159 closed claims2015 64 opened claims 435 transfered claims 101 closed claims2016 88 opened claims 61 transfered claims 37 closed claims2017 30 opened claims 15 transfered claims 48 closed claims2018 21 opened claims 12 transfered claims 59 closed claims2019 44 opened claims 23 transfered claims 20 closed claims2020 71 opened claims 11 transfered claims 2 closed claims2021Transfered2012 216 opened claims 35 transfered claims 92 closed claims2013 491 opened claims 43 transfered claims 50 closed claims2014 86 opened claims 39 transfered claims 159 closed claims2015 64 opened claims 435 transfered claims 101 closed claims2016 88 opened claims 61 transfered claims 37 closed claims2017 30 opened claims 15 transfered claims 48 closed claims2018 21 opened claims 12 transfered claims 59 closed claims2019 44 opened claims 23 transfered claims 20 closed claims2020 71 opened claims 11 transfered claims 2 closed claims2021Closed2012201320142015201620172018201920202021050100150200250300350400450ClaimsAnnual Claim Actions In Kern County,CaliforniaJanuary, 2023thediggings.com See full chart
January 2020 12 opened claims 2 transfered claimsFebruary 2020 1 opened claim 2 transfered claimsMarch 2020 4 transfered claimsApril 2020 9 opened claimsMay 2020June 2020 2 opened claims 2 transfered claimsJuly 2020August 2020September 2020 40 opened claims 2 closed claimsOctober 2020 5 opened claims 1 transfered claimNovember 2020 2 opened claimsDecember 2020January 2021OpenedJanuary 2020 12 opened claims 2 transfered claimsFebruary 2020 1 opened claim 2 transfered claimsMarch 2020 4 transfered claimsApril 2020 9 opened claimsMay 2020June 2020 2 opened claims 2 transfered claimsJuly 2020August 2020September 2020 40 opened claims 2 closed claimsOctober 2020 5 opened claims 1 transfered claimNovember 2020 2 opened claimsDecember 2020January 2021TransferedJanuary 2020 12 opened claims 2 transfered claimsFebruary 2020 1 opened claim 2 transfered claimsMarch 2020 4 transfered claimsApril 2020 9 opened claimsMay 2020June 2020 2 opened claims 2 transfered claimsJuly 2020August 2020September 2020 40 opened claims 2 closed claimsOctober 2020 5 opened claims 1 transfered claimNovember 2020 2 opened claimsDecember 2020January 2021ClosedJan '20Feb '20Mar '20Apr '20May '20Jun '20Jul '20Aug '20Sep '20Oct '20Nov '20Dec '20Jan '210510152025303540ClaimsMonthly Claim Actions In Kern County,CaliforniaJanuary, 2023thediggings.com See full chart

Historic Mining Records (USGS)

Kern has 653 identified mines listed in The Diggings™. The most commonly listed primary commodities in Kern mines are Gold , Tungsten , and Copper . At the time these mines were surveyed, 65 mines in Kern were observed to have ore mineralization in an outcrop, shallow pit, or isolated drill hole—known as an occurance mine.1 Kern has 191 prospect mines.2 394 mines were in production at the time the data was entered into USGS records.

Quick USGS Facts

  • 653 records of mines in Kern County, California.
  • 191 records of prospects
  • 65 records of mineral occurrences of observable ore mineralization.
  • 3 records of mining plants
  • 394 records of mineral producers
Browse All Mines

Mine By Disposition

In Kern

COUNTY Authorized mines
Producers 394
Prospects 191
Occurrences 65
Other 3

Top Commodities

in Kern County, California

  1. Gold (531)
  2. Tungsten (235)
  3. Copper (119)
  4. Silver (109)
  5. Uranium (48)
  6. Antimony (42)
  7. Lead (39)
  8. Zinc (23)
  9. Manganese (19)
  10. Tin (19)
More Commodities

1 Grade, tonnage, and extent of mineralization for such mines are unspecified.

2 Such mines have some degree of development such as surface trenching, adits, shafts, drill holes, geophysics, geochemistry, or geological mapping to estimate grade and tonnage.

Popular Public Lands & Regions

in Kern County, California

Land TypeTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive AcresTotal MinesProspectsOccurrencesPlantsProducers
Sequoia National Forest National Forests 2,371 80 2,291 3,736.53 165 47 13 0 105 El Paso Mountains Wilderness Wilderness Areas 255 9 246 185.94 2 0 0 0 2 Kiavah Wilderness Wilderness Areas 352 7 345 144.62 9 6 0 0 3 Los Padres National Forest National Forests 343 0 343 0 11 5 2 0 4 Owens Peak Wilderness Wilderness Areas 84 0 84 0 8 2 4 0 2 Bright Star Wilderness Wilderness Areas 44 0 44 0 1 0 0 0 1 Domeland Wilderness Wilderness Areas 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 Chumash Wilderness Wilderness Areas 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 Sequoia National Park National Parks 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness Wilderness Areas 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Top Mining Districts

in Kern County, California

StateTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive AcresTotal MinesProspectsOccurrencesPlantsProducers
El Paso Mountains-Goler-Garlock-Searles Mining District California 694 523 171 13,756.03 68 29 6 0 33 Rand Mining District California 610 201 409 6,559.36 163 61 2 2 98 Mojave-Rosamond Mining District California 304 246 58 4,772.28 67 19 3 1 44 Loraine-Amalie Mining District California 105 80 25 1,637.14 17 2 3 1 11 Clear Creek-Havilah Mining District California 77 46 31 1,567.12 47 5 2 0 40 Keyesville Mining District California 118 53 65 1,166.88 23 5 2 0 16 Atolia Mining District California 5 5 0 610 5 1 0 0 4 Rademacher Mining District California 165 26 139 525.18 49 21 1 0 27 Cove Mining District California 23 16 7 330.56 12 1 4 0 7 Indian Wells Valley Mining District California 33 10 23 206.60 9 1 4 0 4

Top Owners

in Kern County, California

CityStateCategoryInterest RelationshipTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive Acres
Apache Exploration LLC Denver Colorado Corporation Claimant 395 395 0 8,160.7 Golden Queen Mining Co. West Vancouver British Columbia Corporation Claimant 226 199 27 3,828.8 Gold Discovery Group LLC San Francisco California Corporation Claimant 19 19 0 1,404 Glamis Rand Mining Greenwood Village Colorado Corporation Claimant 61 59 2 1,218.94 Ceramite Inc. Hornbrook California Corporation Claimant 124 54 70 1,099.98

Popular Towns, Cities, Etc.

in Kern County, California

CountyStateTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive AcresTotal MinesProspectsOccurrencesPlantsProducers
Garlock Kern California 14,790 1,712 13,078 49,138.47 462 192 24 3 243 Randsburg Kern California 14,979 1,706 13,273 48,751.49 462 202 23 3 234 Searles Kern California 14,573 1,701 12,872 48,633.85 454 194 30 3 227 Ridgecrest Kern California 13,986 1,237 12,749 36,576.49 464 180 43 4 237 Saltdale Kern California 12,820 1,062 11,758 32,579.13 472 194 21 3 254 Inyokern Kern California 10,556 941 9,615 28,470.29 398 158 26 3 211 Cantil Kern California 10,879 943 9,936 27,970.44 424 174 21 3 226 Boron Kern California 8,391 729 7,662 19,353.73 351 196 11 2 142 California City Kern California 5,490 521 4,969 13,057.67 212 77 17 1 117 Miracle Hot Springs Kern California 5,031 266 4,765 7,953.93 379 85 40 1 253

Mining Claim News From The Diggings™

Learn more about the Bureau of Land Management, Public Land Survey System, and mining claims.

  1. Understanding Mine Ownership

    Understanding Claim Ownership

    We receive lots of emails from people who find their name or a relative’s name on our site and want to know if this means they have some right to the land listed under that name.

  2. open range landscape

    Understanding BLM Administrative Areas

    Whether it is filing a mine or researching one, the administering BLM office is going to be the definitive source.

  3. Public Land Survey System map of the United States of America

    Understanding Location Data

    Mine handled by the Bureau of Land Management are not mapped by latitude and longitude, instead, these mines harken back to the Public Land Survey System.

  4. Historic map of the Ohio Western Reserve

    Understanding Townships

    A “township” can refer to two different things. Both are part of the PLSS measurement system but have different uses.

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