US-owned minerals on private land?

[Rail Dawg]

From another awesome thread by Clay Diggins:

"You may notice on these new mineral ownership maps that in some private land areas the minerals are owned by the U.S and not the private landowner. This is common in the western public land states. We are excited to finally be able to show these mineral land status issues clearly defined on a map. A full discussion of why this matters would probably be useful to prospectors."

Guys I would very much like to hear a discussion over this. Until I read the above I had not put two and two together about the US gov't owning the minerals on private land.

Thanks.

Chuck

 

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[Clay Diggins]

Minerals reserved to the U.S. on private lands? Public domain minerals that are claimable?

More than 70 million acres of private land in the western states. Nearly 3 million acres in Arizona alone. These are Stock Raising and Homestead (SRHA) patent grants.
Most of that is open to mining claims.
Hidden in plain sight.

Really Heavy Pans

 

[okbasspro]

Minerals reserved to the U.S. on private lands? Public domain minerals that are claimable?

More than 70 million acres of private land in the western states. Nearly 3 million acres in Arizona alone. These are Stock Raising and Homestead (SRHA) patent grants.
Most of that is open to mining claims.
Hidden in plain sight.

Really Heavy Pans

I would imagine access is another story. I live in oil country and no way are they drilling on my land.

 

[Clay Diggins]

There are 59,698 acres of SRHA land patents in Oklahoma to my knowledge okbasspro.

If your land was patented under the SRHA or a modified post 1916 Homestead patent the valuable minerals can be prospected by members of the public by delivering to you a registered mail 30 day notice of intent to enter your land for mineral exploration. The rules for oil are somewhat different but if your patent didn't grant ownership to the minerals your land is probably available for mineral extraction just like virtually all the other SRHA lands.

That doesn't mean that someone can just come mine your land. There is a process of getting a plan approval and posting bonds to make you whole should a surface disturbance be necessary. Only the minimal intrusion on your surface rights are allowed and you must be compensated for any loss of income or use you suffer. Your land must be restored after extraction.

Here's a link to a Supreme Court case from 2015 describing the limits on mineral exploration and mining on reserved subsurface mineral rights. In that case the court restates the basic mineral law they have always recognized:

The mineral estate impliedly carries with it a right to use as much of the surface as may be reasonably necessary for operations relating to the mineral estate.

Then they spend the rest of the case explaining all the rights that the prospector/miner doesn't have.

Very informative and important mineral law case.

If you don't know if the U.S. reserved the minerals in your land you should be able to see that in your title abstract and the patent. If you need I can look that up for you.

Heavy Pans

 

[okbasspro]

There are 59,698 acres of SRHA land patents in Oklahoma to my knowledge okbasspro.

If your land was patented under the SRHA or a modified post 1916 Homestead patent the valuable minerals can be prospected by members of the public by delivering to you a registered mail 30 day notice of intent to enter your land for mineral exploration. The rules for oil are somewhat different but if your patent didn't grant ownership to the minerals your land is probably available for mineral extraction just like virtually all the other SRHA lands.

That doesn't mean that someone can just come mine your land. There is a process of getting a plan approval and posting bonds to make you whole should a surface disturbance be necessary. Only the minimal intrusion on your surface rights are allowed and you must be compensated for any loss of income or use you suffer. Your land must be restored after extraction.

Here's a link to a Supreme Court case from 2015 describing the limits on mineral exploration and mining on reserved subsurface mineral rights. In that case the court restates the basic mineral law they have always recognized:

Then they spend the rest of the case explaining all the rights that the prospector/miner doesn't have.

Very informative and important mineral law case.

If you don't know if the U.S. reserved the minerals in your land you should be able to see that in your title abstract and the patent. If you need I can look that up for you.

Heavy Pans

The land that my house sits on I own the Minerals. I have the abstract all the way back to 1849 when the President gave the patent to the Indians. Funny that’s where they got the land. So no oil extraction from below or above. Other land I don’t have Minerals but if they want what’s underneath they will have to directional drill which they do all the time. I have seen to much land destroyed by Oil companies oopsies. I know our world runs on oil but as long as I breathe they will not stand a rig on my land.

 

[OwenT]

Thanks for bringing this up. I was not aware of any of this. It reminds me a little of the Chilean mining code. That country runs on copper (and certainly some gold as well as in the past nitrates) and it puts mineral exploitation in high priority. There isn’t a whole lot of public land in Chile but if a deposit is discovered on your property, I don’t think there’s a whole lot that can be done to stop it and I don’t know if there’s a whole lot of compensation for the landowner either.

 

[russau]

Mineral ownership is the first thing I ask about when I bought my home 30 years ago. I was told that all mineral ownership in Misery ,was sold off a lonnnnnnnnnnnggggggg time ago.