Mineral rights in the United States can be sold separately from property rights. Therefore, just because you own a piece of land doesn’t necessarily mean that you also have the rights to the minerals below it. This is something that many property owners don’t realize. Many property owners don’t understand mineral rights.
This article will explain what mineral rights are and how they can be separated from the land on which they lie. It will also discuss whether it is worth worrying about the possibility of someone else owning mineral rights to your property.
What are Mineral Rights?
Mineral owners have the right to extract or use minerals beneath the surface of their land. The terms of the particular conveyance (the document in which rights were purchased or sold) will determine which minerals are included. The conveyance may include all minerals on the land or only a few.
Natural gas, oil, and coal are the most common minerals extracted in most areas. However, a mineral owner may also own and extract gold and silver. Sometimes, mineral rights transfers include surface rights. If this is the case, the mineral owner has the right to extract any minerals from the surface of the ground, such as clay and gravel.
What are the Mineral Rights for a Piece of Property?
Mineral rights are included in property conveyances as part of the land unless the owner/seller separates ownership. The mineral rights can be separated from the land by:
Conveying the land (sold or transferred in another way) but keeping the mineral rights. This is done by stating in the deed that the land will be conveyed to the seller and reserving all rights to the minerals.
Conveying mineral rights and keeping the land. In this instance, the seller will issue a separate deed for the mineral rights to the buyer.
Conveying land and mineral rights to one person.
A seller cannot convey property other than the one he or she is the owner of, so each sale of land after the minerals have been separated automatically includes the land. The fact that mineral rights are not included in deeds to land will not be reflected in deeds to the land after the first separation of minerals.
In most cases, this means that you can’t determine if you own the rights or not by simply looking at your deed. Sometimes owners are surprised to discover that someone else has the rights to the minerals on their land.
It doesn’t always matter who owns the minerals
Finding out if someone else owns the mineral rights is often a difficult and expensive process. You might not need to know. It is expensive to extract underground minerals, so mineral owners won’t be able to afford to do it unless the minerals are highly valuable.
If you live in an area without any mining or oil drilling, it is unlikely that valuable minerals are under your land. You may even be the owner of the minerals, as the mineral ownership is not separated from your land.
The U.S. laws that regulate mining and mineral rights generally prohibit mineral owners from causing damage to or interfering in the use of homes or other improvements when extracting minerals. Mineral extraction is not usually attempted in densely populated areas. If you live in a large city or have many homes on small parcels of land, it is unlikely that you will need to worry about whether you own the minerals.
It is important to identify who owns the minerals
Mineral exploitation can be common in areas. It is important to make sure you don’t own the minerals beneath your land. If your property is located in an area with oil rigs, natural gas drilling, or coal mining operations, it might be a concern that you don’t have the minerals.
The Mineral Owners’ Rights: Extent
Mineral owners typically have the rights to the land’s surface to mine and access the minerals they own. This could mean that the mineral owner can drill an oil well or natural gas well on your property, or even excavate a new mine. The mineral owner may also be allowed to construct roads or other improvements to facilitate mineral extraction.
Sometimes, the terms of the conveyance restrict the rights of the mineral owner. A mineral deed may limit the time drilling can be continued or limit excavation to a specific depth. To protect the landowner and the environment, many state and local laws that regulate mining and drilling include restrictions on mineral extraction.
What to do if you are concerned about mineral rights
Contact a local lawyer who is experienced in mineral law if a mineral owner contacts you about removing minerals from your land. An attorney can help you navigate this complicated area of law and identify who owns the minerals on your land. This is a tedious process that involves tracing deeds back to the original mineral reservation. Several owners may own different rights to minerals. Sometimes, mineral royalties (the right of profiting from the minerals) can be transferred separately from mineral ownership rights.
You might not be allowed to stop someone from removing minerals if they have a valid ownership right. Talk to an attorney about how to minimize the impact of the removal operations on your property and land. The attorney can help ensure that the mineral owner adheres to all regulations and restrictions governing the extraction and cleaning up of the minerals.
| Peter Yordanov |
| Investment & Financial blogger |
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