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.
Detailed Definition
Mineral title is ownership of the mineral estate: the minerals in a tract of land and the rights that go with them. The mineral estate can be owned together with the surface or severed from it, so the surface and the minerals under it may belong to different owners.
Where western mineral title starts
In the public land states, title to land began with the United States. Land left federal ownership by patent: homestead, railroad and state grants, sales, and mineral patents. What each patent conveyed decides who owns the minerals today.
- Minerals conveyed with the land. A mineral patent gives "exclusive title to the locatable minerals and, in most cases, the surface" (BLM).
- Minerals reserved to the United States. BLM describes split estate as "the legacy of the Stock Raising Homestead Act (SRHA) of 1916," and says "Mineral resources that were reserved in these patents belong to the United States." Some Homestead Acts reserved only certain minerals, while the SRHA reserved all minerals.
- Minerals still held by the United States on land that never left federal ownership.
Mineral title is not the same as a mining claim
An unpatented mining claim does not give title. BLM describes it as a right of possession and a right to develop and extract a discovered valuable mineral deposit, which "does not include exclusive surface rights." The United States keeps title. A mining claim can only be located where the federal government holds the locatable minerals, which is why federal mineral ownership has to be settled before mining claims on a tract can be understood.
The records
- Master title plats. BLM says that on split estate, "You or a BLM specialist will check the master title plat for both surface and mineral ownership," and advises checking the original patent to see which homestead act it was issued under.
- General Land Office Records. BLM's site holds images of more than five million federal land title records, survey plats and field notes, and master title plats. BLM notes that it "does not contain every federal title record issued."
- BLM state offices. BLM calls them "the only place where the complete set of land and mineral records for federal lands in a particular state, including mining claim records, are filed and available for public inspection." That set includes the Control Document Index, a microfilm copy of grants, deeds, patents, and other official actions, organized by legal land description only.
- Mineral & Land Records System (MLRS). BLM's current system for mining claim cases and maps. It replaced LR2000.
- County records. After land leaves federal ownership, conveyances, reservations, leases, and severances are recorded in the county. The notices of location for mining claims are also recorded there under state law.
What mineral title research covers
Mineral title research traces the mineral estate from the federal patent forward. It identifies what the patent conveyed or reserved and follows every later deed, reservation, and lease in the county records, including fractional interests divided among heirs or sellers. For federal minerals, the research also covers mining claim status in MLRS, withdrawals shown on the master title plat, and conflicts between mining claims and patented ground.
Related Terms
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.
Fractional Interest
Ownership of a share of an interest in land or minerals rather than the whole of it, such as an undivided one-half of the minerals or a one-quarter interest in a mining claim.
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.
Title Opinion
A written legal opinion on the ownership of land or minerals, based on the record, that identifies the owners, the exceptions and defects found, and the steps needed to cure them.
Abstract of Title
A condensed history of the title to land, summarizing every conveyance affecting it together with the liens, charges, and liabilities to which it may be subject.
Runsheet
A landman's working list of the recorded instruments affecting a tract, prepared from courthouse and other title sources as the foundation for an abstract and a title opinion.