What does not owning mineral rights mean?

Mineral rights don’t come into effect until you begin to dig below the surface of the property. But the bottom line is: if you do not have the mineral rights to a parcel of land, then you do not have the legal ability to explore, extract, or sell the naturally occurring deposits below.

Do you own mineral rights on your property?

One important factor you must keep in mind is that if real estate contains mineral rights, simply buying the property doesn’t make you the owner of them. Since mineral rights can be sold separately from the land itself, even if you own the land, someone else may hold ownership of what’s below it.

How do you transfer mineral rights from seller to seller?

Conveying (selling or otherwise transferring) the land but retaining the mineral rights. (This is accomplished by including a statement in the deed conveying the land that reserves all rights to the minerals to the seller.)

What happens when oil company buys mineral rights?

They tend to buy up many mineral rights on adjacent lands as future investments. The oil company may be actively drilling on your neighbor’s property. If they have also bought the mineral rights on your property, you could also receive a letter demanding access to explore and drill on your land.

Can a land owner object to a mine?

Whilst as the surface landowner you can object to planning applications to mine the minerals, there is no certainty that your objections will be upheld. The second risk when buying open land without the benefit of owning the minerals underneath, is the restrictions this brings when developing the surface land.

How to verify land mineral rights ownership?

Examine the deed to your property and look for any mention of mineral rights.
often abbreviated as
Go to the county courthouse or registry of deeds in the county where your land is located.

Do you own the mineral rights to your land?

Unless you also own the minerals under your land, that someone might have every right to start drilling. In the United States, mineral rights can be sold or conveyed separately from property rights. As a result, owning a piece of land does not necessarily mean you also own the rights to the minerals beneath it.

What does it mean to own mineral rights?

Owning mineral rights (often referred to as a “mineral interest” or a “mineral estate”) gives the owner the right to exploit, mine, and/or produce any or all minerals they own. Minerals can refer to oil, gas, coal, metal ores, stones, sands, or salts.

Who owns the mineral rights under my land?

An owner of mineral rights may sell, lease, or donate those minerals to any person or company as they see fit. Mineral interests can be owned by private landowners, private companies, or federal, state or local governments. Sorting these rights are a large part of mineral exploration.