Who Owns Mineral Rights?

• In most of the world, mineral rights belong to the government of the nation in which they are found. Permission from the government is required to extract them. In the United States and several common law countries, however, the owner of the surface initially owns the minerals beneath the surface. If you live in the United States and want to know if you own the minerals underneath your property, check your title deed to see if your title is in "fee simple." If it is, and if the mineral rights have not previously been sold or leased (any sale of lease should be recorded on your deed), then you own any minerals underneath your property.
  
  

Mineral Rights vs. Surface Rights

• An oil company (for example), may approach you wanting to purchase rights to the oil underneath your property. If you sell it to them, then the oil is theirs but the surface and buildings (and the use of them) belong to you. The company's right to the oil, however, includes the right to enter the surface of your property and perform activities necessary to extract it. The specifics of its right to disturb your enjoyment of the surface should be carefully negotiated by contract.
  
  

Buying and Selling Mineral Rights

• The buyer of mineral rights may wait several years before extracting them. A buyer may also buy mineral rights as an investment, wait for prices to rise and sell them to a third party at a profit. If you sell mineral rights to your property and then sell your estate to someone else, the buyer of your property will acquire surface rights only. The buyer will have to allow the owner of mineral rights to enter the property to extract the minerals. This will significantly reduce the market value of your property.
  
  

Leasing Mineral Rights

• In many cases, those seeking mineral rights only want to lease them. This is because leasing mineral rights is cheaper than buying them. The lessee may want to conduct exploration to discover if there are enough minerals underneath your property to make it worth purchasing mineral rights.
  
  

Applicable Law

• In the United States, mineral rights are governed by state and local law (usually state law). Check the law of your jurisdiction. In most other countries, mineral rights are governed by national law and policy.