The Land of Plenty: Do You Own the Minerals on Your Property?
When you own a bit of land, you might be sitting on an actual gold mine. It sure sounds like a dream come true, but before you start to gather your equipment, you need to know whether you have right to the minerals. It sounds straightforward enough when you own the property, but many people before you have considered themselves rich just to see someone else claim the right and gather the valuables.
It gets worse, though, as you might find yourself in the despicable situation of watching your garden being drilled out while you’re left with nothing but noise and disruption. You can’t even chase them away as they’ve got every right to be there, and life feels so very unfair.
Read up on the laws regulating it and know when it’s time to worry about someone else claiming the minerals beneath your property – and when you can enjoy your home undisturbed.
Basic Mineral Rights
When someone owns the right to the minerals underneath your property, they can also extract this and use it as they like. To find out who owns it and what they own, you need to look at the conveyance that was drawn up when the sale was made – where you’ll also be able to see whether they own the right to all the minerals or if the ownership is limited.
While the rights were quite easy to understand back in the days, the difficulties with mineral start with the fact that the right can be separated from the land. This usually happens when the first owner decides to sell the property but would like to keep the mineral rights.
Naturally, this is usually done by including a statement in the deed that the seller retains the right. As time goes by, the future buyers will not have this declaration on separation of land and minerals; there will indeed be little mention of the minerals at all, and so the confusion begins.
Does it really matter though?
Sometimes, having a backyard full of minerals means very little to the one owning the rights. Embarking on a project of digging up these valuables is often an expensive and lengthy affair which most people try to avoid – unless there is a lot of money in it, of course.
It depends on the area you live in, and you should consider whether it’s known for being home to valuable minerals – if not, it’s not likely that a mineral owner would bother with drilling in your garden. Laws and regulations also limit the extent the mineral owner can damage your property. If you live in a highly populated area, such as a city, or a dense neighborhood, the owner wouldn’t be allowed to interfere with your home in any way.
It’s actually quite likely that you still retain the rights, by the way, unless you live in an area that is historically known for finding valuables underground. This is when it’s time for concern and an excellent time for contacting a professional landman to find out who owns the rights. Finding out who owns what is a tedious process which needs to be tracked back to the very first deed – and multiple owners to different minerals might even occur.
When someone shows up and legitimately owns the right to the minerals on your property, there is little you can do to prevent them from drilling it out. You should contact an attorney nonetheless, though, to make sure you’re able to limit the extent and disturbance.
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