Premium Exploration Inc., a Vancouver, B.C., metals exploration company, filed 782 claims with the Bureau of Land Management Oct. 14.

The publicly held company is doubling the size of its exploration site in an area known as the Orogrande Shear Zone in central Idaho near Elk City, in the Nez Perce National Forest.

The area has been host to mining operations since the 1860s. Premium already held almost 400 claims in the area. With the new claims, the company is now exploring five contiguous projects that cover 58 square miles.

With the expansion, officials from Premium hope to develop a new mining district, the company said in a prepared release. Officials for Premium were in Idaho on Oct. 14 and unavailable for comment, according to staff in the company’s Vancouver office.

The size of the claim was unusual for this time of year, said Lynn McClure, who works in the BLM’s Boise office. McClure’s office has seen more claims filed this year than in previous years because high prices for precious metals are prompting more exploration. Each claim costs $189 to file. Prospectors are not required to tell the BLM what they are looking for, but the location of the area they’re exploring is available to the public.

Premium explores and develops gold, silver, platinum and palladium mines in Idaho, Montana and Mexico.