<Li> Lode (minerals in place in the mother rock), </Li> <Li> Tunnel (a location for a proposed tunnel which claims all veins discovered during the driving of it) </Li> <Li> Millsite (a maximum five acre site for processing ore) </Li> <P> A mining claim always starts out as an unpatented claim . The owner of an unpatented claim must continue mining or exploration activities on an unpatented claim, or he may pay a fee to the land management agency by September 1 of each year, or it is considered abandoned and becomes null . Activities on unpatented claims must be restricted to those necessary to mining . A patented claim is one for which the federal government has issued a patent (deed). To obtain a patent, the owner of a mining claim must prove to the federal government that the claim contains locatable minerals that can be extracted at a profit . A patented claim can be used for any purpose desired by the owner, just like any other real estate . However, Congress has ceased funding for the patenting process, so at this time a claim cannot be patented . </P>

What process did prospectors use to stake a claim