Mineral Estate
The ownership of the minerals beneath a tract of land, which can be held separately from the surface and, on federal land, is obtained by claim, lease, or sale depending on the mineral.
Detailed Definition
The mineral estate is the ownership of the minerals beneath a tract of land. It can be held together with the surface or separately from it. When the two are held by different parties, the land is a split estate.
The federal mineral estate
BLM states that it administers 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate, more than any other government agency in the United States.
How rights to federal minerals are obtained
The route depends on the kind of mineral.
- Locatable minerals, such as gold, silver, and copper, are acquired by locating a mining claim under the Mining Law.
- Leasable minerals, such as oil and gas, coal, potash, and phosphate, are obtained by lease. The federal government has leased them since 1920.
- Salable minerals, the common varieties of sand, gravel, stone, pumice, pumicite, and cinders, are obtained by sales contract or free-use permit.
Surface ownership does not settle mineral ownership
BLM's split estate policy most commonly applies where the surface is privately owned and the minerals are held by the federal government. BLM notes that where surface and minerals are owned separately, the mineral rights often take precedence over other rights.
Much federal split estate traces to the Stock Raising Homestead Act of 1916. Its patents reserved all minerals to the United States, while some other homestead acts reserved only certain minerals. The wording of the reservation in the patent decides which minerals stayed federal.
Limits on claiming federal minerals
- Mining claims cannot be staked on acquired minerals, according to BLM.
- Mining claims can be located for minerals reserved under the Stock Raising Homestead Act, subject to the notice and waiting requirements of 43 CFR part 3838.
- BLM is responsible for the subsurface on both public land and National Forest System land.
In mineral title research
The mineral estate has its own chain of title, and it does not always follow the surface. Working it out means reading the original patent for any reservation, then tracing later conveyances of the minerals separately from the surface. On federal minerals, the next step is the BLM record: any mining claims, leases, or sales that already cover the ground.
Related Terms
Mineral Title
Ownership of the minerals in a tract of land, which may be held together with the surface or severed from it and owned by someone else, including the United States.
Chain of Title
The series of conveyances affecting a tract, arranged in order from the government or other original source of title down to the present holder.
Split Estate
Land where the surface rights and the mineral rights are owned by different parties, most often a private surface over minerals reserved to the United States.
Surface Rights
All rights in the land excepting the oil, gas, and mineral rights to underground deposits. The surface may be owned separately from the minerals.
Mineral Rights
Rights which attach only to mineral deposits, such as the right to explore for, develop, and extract them, as distinct from rights in the surface.
Severed Estate
Land in which the mineral estate has been separated from the surface estate by a reservation, exception, or separate conveyance, so the two are held as distinct interests.