Mining Interests

[street]

^ Do you own the mineral under the dirt you own?

 

[Fermion]

All of the property I own came with mineral rights....of course there are not any known mineral deposits in this area.

 

[street]

Your questions you asked, and concerns you have concerning rights, or no rights wouldn't be the place to address them here.

I suggest that you fully research and educated yourself on the questions you asked if ever approached from a company wanting to extract or open mine.

 

[Winemaker]

So you can just set up a crazy high fee for them to access the minerals on your land?

The problem that would concern me would be if there were underground work done on land that I own (fracking or shafts or whatever) and then Flybynight Co. files for bankruptcy when the price of mineral goes to poop and I have these future potential problems with settling or ground water contamination (or well water). I think this kind of thing has happened.

Here in PA, land owners who were undermined by coal companies that mined and went out of business are covered by Subsidence Insurance. Modern mining companies nowadays have to post a bond to cover part of those liabilities. And the mining companies are severely regulated; mining plans must meet federal and state guidelines, and inspections are made to guarantee they're met.

 

[luckydude]

All of the property I own came with mineral rights....of course there are not any known mineral deposits in this area.

Land, at least in the continental US, has been pretty thoroughly surveyed at this point with the vast majority of mineral deposits identified (it's not like in Australia where they still largely don't know what's underground, especially in the Outback and west OZ). So if there isn't any known deposit at this point, chances are they won't find any going forward.

And as long as you own all the mineral rights as well as the surface right, you can simply say no to any extraction if you're concerned about potential damage to your land and possible liability.

 

[street]

^^ great advice. Like the posters above said, with strict regulations from Fed and State laws the landowner has a lot of agencies behind them if there is a miss que. The environmental laws and tree hugging groups are a landowner's umbrella policy. You do have power on your side if things go south when these companies want on your land and things go wrong.

I also will say the mineral owner does trump the surface owner when companies want on the land for mineral. The surface owner is still in the loop and has rights also and leverage.

 

[dfarr]

So if there isn't any known deposit at this point, chances are they won't find any going forward..

15 years ago that's what everyone in our area thought. When I bought my property I never dreamed there would be gas wells drilled in the area. The recent discoveries with high tech shale gas exploration techniques and the advancement of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking technology has created new opportunities.

 

[luckydude]

15 years ago that's what everyone in our area thought. When I bought my property I never dreamed there would be gas wells drilled in the area. The recent discoveries with high tech shale gas exploration techniques and the advancement of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking technology has created new opportunities.

That gives me hope that maybe one day they'll find something under my property too