As a child I received advice from my mother. She told me that she would never sell her mineral rights or her water rights to real estate owned by her. She also said that she does not buy land where those rights are not transferred.
This may not be the kind of advice that young children often get from their mothers, but it is very good advice.
My mom was a farmer’s daughter. People tend to think of farmers as ignorant louts. In fact, good farmers have to be quite knowledgeable about the legalities of ownership and scientific matters like soil conservation, plant propagation, animal care, and biology as well.
As an adult, I was a master gardener at our local county Agricultural Extension office. In my training course we learned that plants need between 16 and 18 minerals to be present in the soil to grow. Most farms use fertilizers that include only 3 minerals, nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous.
About 14 years ago I read the annual report of a large mining company. In it they said that when they extracted minerals from a piece of land, it was so devoid of nutrients that without intense efforts to restore the fertility of the land they had extracted, nothing would grow for 1,000 years or more.
Plants cannot grow without minerals.
Many less educated people who farmed in the US and elsewhere sold their mining rights to this company. They believed that they could make money from the sale of minerals and still farm the land they owned.
In fact, the land became deeply barren after the minerals disappeared. Worse still, the company knew what would happen.
Was it misleading?
Of course it was.
Mom, the farmer’s daughter, knew that what she told me was important.
With oil producers, oil leases and “fracking” is more important than ever. Ask yourself, “What will this do to the earth?”
This is an important topic for other owners as well.
Many developers of subdivisions and gated communities reserve the rights to minerals, water and other resources when they sell lots. It can be a real shock to look out the window of your dream home and see an oil derrick pumping, or someone digging a mine.
To protect yourself, find good legal representation and learn as much as you can about property rights. The risk is that it could uncover a very bad surprise in the future, particularly when natural resources become even scarcer.
