Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK Mining Claims & Land Ownership Map
Current BLM claim data, land ownership layers, and rockhounding-ready backcountry navigation for Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK — built for the field.
Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK Mining Claims & Land Ownership Map
Current BLM claim data, land ownership layers, and rockhounding-ready backcountry navigation for Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK — built for the field.
Nome and the surrounding Seward Peninsula represent one of the most famous gold fields on Earth. Following the 1898 discovery of gold on Anvil Creek by the "Three Lucky Swedes," a wild stampede brought thousands of prospectors to the remote Bering Sea coastline. The region gained international renown when miners discovered that the ocean beaches themselves were rich with fine placer gold, leading to the famous beach gold rush where no traditional land claim was required to pan along the tide lines.
Today, the Seward Peninsula features a dynamic blend of onshore state mining claims, inland federal claims, and state offshore gold dredging leases in the Bering Sea. Geologically, ancient marine terraces and glaciofluvial deposits sit atop Paleozoic metamorphic schists and limestones. Streams like the Snake, Solomon, and Kougarok Rivers have transported placer gold from mountain quartz vein structures down to coastal lowlands. Modern suction dredgers operate offshore during short summer ice-free windows, while inland prospectors use metal detectors, sluice boxes, and high-bankers along tundra streams. Rockhounds on the peninsula can also find rare scheelite, marine agates along coastal spit beaches, and nephrite jade cobbles washed out from regional metamorphic formations.
2,497
Current / Not-Closed Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK Claim Records
6,851
Historical Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK Claims
1,723
Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK Rockhound Hotspots
11,071
Total Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK Claims & Hotspots
1,717
Metallic Sites
6
Non-Metallic Sites
Notable finds: Kyanite
| Material | Sites Recorded |
|---|---|
| Kyanite | 1 |
29
Lode Claims
0
Placer Claims
Reflects BLM federal claims only — Alaska DNR's state mining-claim records aren't classified by claim type the same way.
| Claim Type | Current Claims |
|---|---|
| Lode Claims | 29 (100.0%) |
| Placer Claims | 0 (0%) |
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Official Prospecting Resources for Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK
What it is: The official state recording system for registering local property documents and location certificates across Alaska districts.
Use case: Checking current filing fees and submitting state location certificates for recording districts covering the Seward Peninsula.
What it is: The local Bureau of Land Management field office overseeing federal public lands, unpatented claim filings, and surface management across the Seward Peninsula.
Use case: Contacting local BLM officials, verifying federal land status around Nome, reviewing regional public access rules, and checking federal claim boundaries.
What it is: The official state regulatory handbook providing the full text of Alaska statutes and administrative code governing state land mining location notices, annual labor affidavits, and offshore mineral leasing.
Use case: Researching official state claim staking guidelines, calculating annual labor assessment requirements, and verifying legal compliance for onshore and offshore state mining activities.
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Paid plans unlock full claim details, historical claims, research layers and offline tools.
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For prospectors who mostly work one state.
$29.99/yr
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For prospectors who cross nearby state lines.
$49.99/yr
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For serious Western prospectors.
$99.99/yr
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Single State, Tri-State and All-West all unlock the exact same features — nothing is pay-gated between them, they differ only in how many states you get.
Paid plans renew automatically at the monthly or annual rate you choose until you cancel. Cancel anytime and keep access through the end of your paid period. See our Terms of Use.
Staked Maps isn't crowd-sourced guesswork. Current and historical claim boundaries are parsed directly from the Bureau of Land Management's Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS), which replaced the legacy LR2000 mining claim system in 2021, and kept in sync with our database on a regular schedule. Rockhound Hotspots draw from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS), cross-referenced by material so you can see exactly what's been found at a given site. For legal filings, always confirm current status directly with your BLM state office of record; Staked Maps is a research and navigation tool, not a substitute for the official record.
Directly from the Bureau of Land Management's official MLRS (Mineral & Land Records System) case-recordation records, synced into our database on a regular schedule — not scraped or crowd-sourced.
Staked Maps displays the status reported by BLM. Records with a case disposition of Active are labeled Active; historical records come from BLM's closed-claims dataset. These statuses are research information, not a Staked Maps legal determination of claim validity, discovery, ownership or compliance. Verify the current record through MLRS before acting on it.
Free users can search by county. Paid plans add search by claim serial number, plus each claim's full legal (aliquot) description and BLM records link.
Staked Maps currently tracks 2,497 current federal mining claim/site records and 6,851 historical claim records from BLM's federal MLRS records combined with Alaska DNR's state mining-claim records, plus 1,723 Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK mineral-occurrence records derived from USGS MRDS.
A premium map layer of documented mineral occurrences, prospects and mines sourced from USGS MRDS and labeled by material where available. These records are research leads, not a directory of verified public collecting sites.
Yes — the live map covers all of Alaska, not just Nome & Seward Peninsula. Other Alaska counties with a dedicated page: Fairbanks & Circle District, Fortymile River & Chicken, Mat-Su Valley and Kenai Peninsula.
Alaska DNR Recorder's Office - About The Process is Nome & Seward Peninsula, AK's primary office for filing and researching mining claims — see the Official Filing & Information Links section above for the direct link and more resources.
Regulatory and editorial content last reviewed against official records · Source: Alaska DNR Recorder's Office - About The Process · USGS MRDS
Information hosted on Staked Maps is compiled from publicly available data streams provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and relevant state geographic clearinghouses. Staked Maps accepts no liability for the content of this geospatial data, or for the consequences of any real-world exploration, land entry, or staking actions taken on the basis of the information provided via this application interface.
Staked Maps makes no warranty, expressed or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, nor assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the pinpoint accuracy, reliability, completeness, latency, or programmatic utility of these geospatial data layers, or for the improper interpretation of these data grids.
These mapping layers and related graphics are visual convenience aids only; they are not legal documents and must never be used as such. The data may not be used to legally determine title, mineral ownership, valid description boundaries, jurisdictional authorities, or land restrictions in place on public or private land. Natural backcountry hazards may or may not be depicted on topographies, and land users are strictly mandated to exercise caution. Federal records are dynamic and change constantly. The end-user is exclusively responsible for validating current land classifications with local BLM field offices and managing compliance accordingly.