How to Use Open Ground

01What Open Ground does

Open Ground helps you find “open ground” in Nevada — parcels of federal land that carry a documented mineral occurrence nearby but have no active mining claim on them right now. In other words, ground where the geology is interesting and the land may still be open to location.

It works on a live 3D map that pulls current data straight from federal sources: BLM active mining claims, the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) and USMIN mine-feature database, the BLM PLSS survey grid, and land-status/ownership layers. You pick an area, run an analysis, and the tool highlights the open parcels and ranks them.

02Accounts & plans

You can pan and explore the 3D map freely without an account. To run an analysis or save a prospect, you’ll sign in — click Sign in at the top-right and either register with an email and password or choose Continue with Google. Your saved work is tied to your account and follows you across devices.

To upgrade, click Upgrade to Pro at the top-right and choose a monthly or annual plan — checkout is handled securely by Stripe, and Pro features unlock the moment payment clears. Manage or cancel anytime from the same button (Pro ✦ Manage).

03Getting around the map

• Pan & zoom — drag to move, scroll to zoom.
• Tilt & rotate (3D) — right-drag (or Ctrl-drag) to tilt into the terrain and spin the view.
• Basemaps — switch between Satellite, USGS Topo, Img+Topo, and Relief using the basemap buttons.
• District quick-jump — the district buttons (Tonopah, Goldfield, Round Mtn, Big Smoky Vly, Battle Mtn, Austin) fly you straight to known mining country.
• Go-to search — type coordinates like 38.07,-117.23 or a place name into the search box to jump there.
• Terrain controls — the exaggeration and relief sliders raise the vertical drama of the landscape and shade the hillsides, which helps you read structure and outcrop.

04The data layers

Each toggle in the Layers & Analysis panel turns a dataset on or off. Here’s what each one is telling you:

• PLSS quarter sections — the township/range/section survey grid. This is the language claims are described in, so it’s your reference frame for locating ground.
• Active BLM claims — mining claims that are currently on record and not closed. Land under an active claim is not open ground.
• MRDS occurrences — documented mineral deposits and occurrences from the USGS, with commodity and development-status information.
• USMIN workings — physical mine features mapped from topographic surveys: adits, shafts, prospect pits, open pits, and quarries.
• Surface management — who administers the surface (BLM, Forest Service, private, state, etc.). It shapes what you can access and how.
• Withdrawn / conservation — areas closed to mineral entry, such as wilderness, wilderness study areas, and national monuments. Ground here generally cannot be located.
• Locatable — highlights land that is actually open to claim location (open federal land, minus active claims and withdrawals).
• Shortlist — shows the prospects you’ve saved.

05Focusing by commodity

The commodity chips (Au, Ag, Cu, W, and more) let you focus the analysis on the metals you care about. Click one or several to “light them up,” and the tool will match occurrences whose commodity list includes your picks. Leave them all off to consider every commodity. There’s a matching set of chips for USMIN workings by type (prospect pit, adit, shaft, open pit, quarry).

06Running an analysis

This is the core workflow — the step that turns the map into a target list.

1. Navigate to your area of interest and zoom in to about level 10 or closer. Zooming in keeps the results focused and under the data service’s limits.
2. Set your focus — pick any commodity chips, and toggle options like Producers only (limit occurrences to past producers and producers) or Dissolve (merge adjacent open parcels into cleaner blocks).
3. Click Analyze this view. A progress overlay walks through fetching the survey grid, active claims, occurrences, and land status.
4. Read the map. When it finishes, the gold parcels are your open ground — PLSS parcels with no active claim but a documented occurrence nearby.

07Reading your results

Open the Results tab to see your ranked targets. Each one shows its acreage, the commodities and sites tied to it, the managing agency, and flags for whether it’s locatable or sits under a withdrawal. Click any target to fly the map to it. The ★ star on a target saves it to your shortlist.

08Saving prospects (your shortlist)

Tap the ★ on any target to add it to your Shortlist tab. There you can add a note to each prospect (what you saw, what to check, access notes), and it all saves to your account automatically — sign in on another device and your shortlist is right there. From the Shortlist tab you can also export just your saved prospects on their own.

09Claim Scan PRO

Claim Scan sweeps the current view for claim status, helping you see how claimed-up an area already is before you invest time in it. It’s a Pro feature.

10Sweep PRO

Sweep runs the open-ground analysis across your whole current view in a batch rather than a single pass — useful for covering a broad district efficiently. You can cancel a sweep in progress. Also a Pro feature.

11Exporting to the field PRO

Once you’ve got targets you like, take them with you:

• KMZ — opens in Google Earth and loads onto most handheld GPS units, so you can navigate to the ground.
• CSV — a spreadsheet of your targets (coordinates, acreage, commodities, agency) for your own records or filing prep.
• Printable claim sheet — a clean summary you can print and carry.

You can export either the full results or just your saved shortlist. Exports are a Pro feature.

12Measure & import

• Measure — the measure tool lets you check distances and areas right on the map.
• Import your own boundary — bring in an area of interest as KML, GPX, CSV, or GeoJSON, and save a boundary you’ve drawn, so you can analyze exactly the ground you’re working.

13Field tips & important disclaimers

• “Open ground” is a starting point, not a guarantee. It means the data shows no active claim and a nearby occurrence — always confirm current claim status directly with the BLM (and the county recorder) before you stake or spend money.
• Public data can lag. Claims, withdrawals, and land status change; a recording may not appear in the federal layers for weeks. Treat the map as a lead generator, then verify.
• Mind withdrawals and access. Check the Withdrawn/conservation and Surface management layers — wilderness, monuments, and some other areas are closed to location, and private or restricted land may block access.
• This tool is not legal, financial, or professional surveying advice. Locating and maintaining a mining claim has legal requirements and deadlines; consult the BLM’s guidance and, where appropriate, a professional.