Open Ground Research Program — 3D interactive claim prospecting map
Beta Testing Free through August 2026

Introducing the Open Ground Research Program

A free 3D claim-prospecting tool from Mountain Man Mining. Explore Nevada's public land in an interactive terrain map, overlay real mining data, and let the program surface open ground worth staking — in seconds, not weeks.

  • 3D interactive terrain map of Nevada mining districts
  • Live BLM claims overlay so you never target staked ground
  • USGS mineral occurrence data (MRDS), including past producers
  • One-click “Analyze This View” to find open ground fast
  • Commodity filters — gold, silver, copper, tungsten, and more
  • Claim Scanner to see who already holds ground nearby
  • Sweep View to scan an entire district in one pass
  • Import/export KML, GPX, CSV & GeoJSON for your own field data
Launch the Program →

Currently in free public beta — no cost through August 2026.

1,562+ Documents Free & Searchable

Explore the Mining Library

A public-domain archive of mining and geology literature from the 1850s to today — fully searchable and free to browse. Whether you're evaluating a claim or researching a district's history, the answer is probably already in here.

  • 1,562 historical & modern documents, 1850s to present
  • Full-text search across the entire archive
  • Browse by state — 45 U.S. states plus international
  • Filter by commodity — gold, silver, copper, coal, uranium, rare earths & more
  • USGS & Bureau of Mines reports and technical studies
  • Assaying, metallurgy & mineral ID guides
  • Historical district & mining camp histories
  • 22 curated collections spanning six time eras
Browse the Library →

Free to search — no account required.

New from Mountain Man Mining

Paydirt

Making a living as a small-scale miner in the western United States — at $4,000 gold.

Gold at $4,045 an ounce didn't just make existing mines richer — it cut the small operator's breakeven grade by more than half. This is the field guide we wish existed when we started: the geology, the districts, the claim law, and the honest arithmetic of cutoff grades, equipment costs, and ROI — written for someone deciding whether to actually do this for a living.

55 PAGES 18 CHAPTERS 11 FIGURES & MAPS FREE PDF DOWNLOAD
  • Cutoff-grade & ROI math at today's prices
  • State-by-state district scorecard
  • 2026 BLM claim fees & permitting playbook
  • Real equipment costs, highbanker to mill
  • How small mines fail — and three roadmaps that don't
  • Placer, hardrock, and the silver question
$4,045Gold Price Used
Sampling Rule
$200Claim Upkeep / Yr
Free Download

Get "Paydirt" — free

$19$0 today
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Straightforward listings, real title records, no fluff — MountainManMining.com