RE:interestingI found the mining code for newfoundland.
When you stake a claim it is recorded but the title is not issued for a month after that date.
The cost to stake in low at $65 per claim. HOWEVER, each claim needs $200 of exploration expenses for the first year. It goes up by $50 every year. So if you stake 1000 claims, you will have to spend $200,000 ib exploration in the first year. If you do not spend this money you can send the gov $200/claim to keep them.
I can see that companies with big claim packages must be spending a lot of money.