Mineral Rights: What You Need to Know
Whether you’re looking to acquire or sell mineral rights, we can help you access the information you need to make the most of your possibilities and minimize risks in the US mineral rights market.
This post will help you discover what mineral rights are and how they function. You will have a deeper understanding of various types of mineral rights, how they operate, and, most importantly, whether or not they expire.
What are Mineral Rights?
Mineral rights are the ownership of natural resources below the earth’s surface. Mineral rights include the right to explore, develop, produce and sell minerals.
Different Types Of Mineral Rights
The separation of the mineral and surface property has historically been used by royalty to assert their regalian rights and claim ownership of minerals, from the middle of the earth to the air above.
Today, mineral rights on a property are commonly divided from the plot of land. The 4 primary kinds of mineral rights are as follows:
Surface Rights
Ownership rights to minerals on the surface are limited to those that exist on the surface. Mineral ownership rights in the subsurface are not covered.
Mineral Interests
Ownership of mineral rights under the ground is available in various forms, including surface minerals, subsurface minerals, and resources. Royalty, lease, and shut-in payments are all possible benefits for owners of subsurface rights.
Royalty Rights
Investors who own oil and gas royalty rights profit from the stream of royalty payments associated with mineral rights investments. The owner receives a portion of the revenue as minerals are extracted from the leased property.
Oil and Gas Rights
Because oil and gas are fluid, defining mineral rights by a specific well or geographic area is difficult. Oil may easily flow through fractures and joints, allowing reserves to migrate into the subsurface of adjacent fields.
How Do Mineral Rights Work?
You have certain exclusive privileges concerning those minerals when you own mineral rights. These privileges can be divided into Surface Rights and Subsurface Rights.
Surface Rights
The surface rights owner has the right to use the land’s surface for any legal purpose, including extracting minerals. The surface owner can also lease or sell the surface rights.
Subsurface Rights
The owner of the subsurface rights has exclusive control over all activities taking place below the surface, including extracting minerals. Exclusive control means that the owner can allow or deny anyone access to the subsurface for any reason.
Do Mineral Rights Expire?
Mineral rights may be expired even if they have previously been sold on your property. There is no definitive answer to how long mineral rights last. Mineral rights agreements are unique in every aspect. The length of a mineral rights agreement varies.
A lease for oil and gas frequently has 2 terms: a primary and a secondary term.
- If no drilling or production activity has occurred at the end of a primary term, the lease will expire.
- If drilling or production work continues, the contract will be automatically extended into the secondary term.
- During the secondary phase, drilling and production can proceed as long as they do not lapse for more than 90 or 60 days, respectively. Terms may differ by state.
Blue Flame Minerals Buys Your Mineral Rights
Have you ever said, “I want to sell my mineral rights,” but you don’t know how to do it? Blue Flame Minerals is here to help. We are the largest mineral rights company, and we are here to buy your mineral rights.
We offer a fair price for your mineral rights and handle all the paperwork, so you don’t have to. Contact us today to get started.