What is a placer mine claim?

A placer claim is a mining claim that is not subject to a lode claim, or is not found or sourced from something like a vein or clearly defined area of material. A placer claim is limited in the size it can be, which is still much larger than the lode claim area.

Placer claims are limited to 20 acres per locator. Each individual person is a placer, and they may combine claims to cover larger areas. Even with combined claims, however, a group of eight or more people may only have a total of 160 acres claimed. This only applies to private parties; corporations cannot claim more then a single 20 acre area. The exception to this is when a company is a co-locator with a private claim holder.