Mineral Right

Privilege of gaining Income from the sale of oil, gas, and other valuable resources found on or below land. Mineral rights can be sold or leased separately from the land ownership.

The privilege of gaining Income from the sale of oil, gas, and other valuable resources found on land.
Example: Abel purchases a property that contains underground oil deposits. Abel may:

• develop these mineral rights by drilling a well

• sell the rights for a price to an oil company

• Lease the rights to an oil company in exchange for a royalty

An interest in minerals in land, with or without ownership of the surface of the land. A right to take minerals or a right to receive a royalty.

Mineral right is a term encompassing all the ways a person can have a possessory interest in minerals in the ground. It includes the right to enter the land and occupy it in order to remove the minerals. Mineral rights can be retained when land is sold or conveyed, thus making it possible for someone to own the right to mine the minerals without owning the land. A right of entry onto the land can be held by the grantor who retains the mineral rights, or other arrangements can be made to gain access to the minerals. Mineral rights can be leased or sold. A landowner who leases mineral rights often receives a royalty, or a percentage of the value of the minerals which are mined by the leaseholder.

See: mine and mineral law.