Mineral Rights and Ownership: Who Owns the Minerals?

In most cases, the landowner owns the mineral rights to the land, unless they have been severed from the surface rights.

Severance is the legal process by which mineral rights are separated from surface rights, creating two separate estates in the land.

In the United States, the federal government typically owns the mineral rights to land that it owns, unless they have been conveyed to a private party.

Mineral rights are most commonly conveyed through leases, which grant the lessee the right to extract minerals from the land for a specified period of time.

Royalty is the payment made by a lessee to the mineral rights owner for the right to extract minerals, typically calculated as a percentage of the value of the minerals extracted.

A bonus is the initial payment made by a lessee to the mineral rights owner upon signing a mineral lease, typically paid in addition to royalties.

Rental is the ongoing payment made by a lessee to the mineral rights owner for the right to extract minerals, typically paid per acre or per ton of minerals extracted.

An overriding royalty is a royalty interest that is created by a mineral rights owner and is not subject to the terms of the primary mineral lease, typically paid as a percentage of the value of the minerals extracted.

Mining rights are the legal rights to explore for and extract minerals from land, typically granted by the mineral rights owner to a lessee.

Drilling rights are the legal rights to enter land and extract minerals, typically granted by the mineral rights owner to a lessee.

Surface rights are the legal rights to use the surface of land for mining purposes, typically granted by the landowner to a lessee.

Mining rights are the legal rights to explore for and extract minerals from land that is owned by the government, typically granted by the government to a lessee.

Drilling rights are the legal rights to enter land and extract minerals from land that is owned by the government, typically granted by the government to a lessee.

Surface rights are the legal rights to use the surface of land that is owned by the government for mining purposes, typically granted by the government to a lessee.

Mineral rights are the legal rights to explore for and extract minerals from land that is owned by a private individual, typically granted by the landowner to a lessee.