How to Verify Mineral Rights

Mineral resources can be metal ore, oil, gas, coal and other raw materials.

Minerals include metallic ore, oil, natural gas and coal. Mineral rights are property rights that can be held, sold or leased. In some instances, mineral rights have been severed from surface property rights. Beginning in the mid-1800s, railroad companies sold extra land granted by the federal government, but retained the mineral rights for later use. In modern times, land tracts have been bought and combined to create planned communities. In some of these areas, housing developments have overly rich mineral deposits, but mineral rights are tangled up after numerous historical real-estate transactions. Despite such issues, you can still verify mineral rights.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Deed titles
• Vesting deeds
• Plat maps
• Warranty deeds

1. Review deed title policy. While title companies are not responsible for insuring mineral deeds, they have some access to information on mineral rights associated with a property. If the Title Policy Schedule A contains the wording "surface only of the," then mineral rights have been reserved prior to selling the property sometime in the past. If the Title Policy Schedule B refers to "mineral exceptions or mineral deeds," then there is likely more than one predecessor to the mineral rights. Search historical deeds to determine if mineral rights have been severed from the surface rights.

2. Review any vesting deed that delegated land held in trusteeship for heirs. If a vesting deed states "grantor reserves unto himself all minerals," then the minerals have been severed and likely belong to a different entity.

3. Search county clerk's office for deed records. County Hall, Beverley image by Sheila Button from Fotolia.com

   Review historical plat maps that indicate parcel boundaries and ownership. Cross-reference information with county records kept for warranty deeds and title deeds. Original deeds are necessary to check for wording indicating mineral rights are still tied to the surface rights. Deed titles that transfer property in "fee simple" grant all rights to the property.

4. Review developers' archives for plats combined to create larger developments. Real estate developers should maintain maps identifying specific tracts, original land owners and deeds. City records offices will also have this information in the development package used for land zoning. In smaller towns and cities, neighbors are a good resource for land ownership histories, particularly large tracts of land originally owned by one family. Gather historical land owner information to conduct a thorough deed title search.

Tips & Warnings

• Look for "fee simple" wording in titles when conducting searches, which indicates mineral rights are tied to the surface rights. "Surface only," "mineral exceptions" or "mineral deeds" indicate mineral rights have been separated from the surface property and may be fractionally owned by several different entities.

• Companies that lease and develop mineral resources are ultimately responsible for determining the accuracy of mineral rights before developing the resource. Questions regarding the veracity of mineral rights searches should be handled by an attorney who can conduct a more thorough search and write a title opinion. A title opinion formally questions title or presents an opinion on mineral rights ownership when records are missing.

References

• Geology: Mineral Rights
• Colleyville Area Mineral Rights Association: Mineral Research