There is a locked door very close to these mines, which has a very high DC. We once tried to claim the mines only to find that something hostile had spawned behind it, restricting us from doing so. I don't know if this is intentional or not, but I personally don't find it very reasonable at all.
Also, it is no longer possible to bring ore down from these mines to donate to the crafting guild as a scripted "quest" nor to take ore at all. This makes a few of our plots slightly awkward, as we have the ore but can't bring it. Again, I don't know if this is intentional or not, but I couldn't find any reason for it to be disabled like this.
Would appreciate a change in both these situations, if possible.