Land with mineral rights sold (Ironton: leasing, lawyer, buying)

[shane williams]

My wife and I are thinking about buying land in Ironton ,Ohio that has had the mineral right sold to Hecla mining corp. with an intrest in coal. Would they be able to start mining any given day? Or would the mineral rights go to us with the purchase? How or where would we would we go to find out more information on the details to the company's intentions? Has anyone had any dealing with such a situation any info would help.

[Cleveland_Collector]

Nope. They maintain the mineral rights. Before you purchase anything, get a certified copy of the mineral rights agreement and have it thoroughly examined by a lawyer who you trust. In most cases, they would have to compensate you for the land they mine and pay you royalties for what they take. But, without reading the agreement, you have no idea what was agreed to. Personally, unless the land is coming at me for next to nothing, I'd probably pass on the deal unless I could be darn sure that where I was living would never be affected by the mining. Unless you're buying 1,000 acres, I don't know how you wouldn't be affected in some way.

[shane williams]

Thank you, it is 52 acres. After further investigation there is a 3 acre parcel that was purchased, or so it seems on the deed in 1902. I need to have a lawyer tell me what the deed actually says in laymen terms. Do you have any idea where you would find the original agreement?

[Cleveland_Collector]

It's public record. I would start at the county recorder's office. After that, I would go to the company holding the mineral rights contract.

You may also want to check into the statute of limitations on the contract. Many times, they have an expiration date. Also, by law, most contracts will expire after 99 years (common law for leasing) if they are not acted upon or actively extended and have no agreed upon expiration date. But, it would be best to discuss it with a lawyer who handles this sort of thing as every situation is a touch different.

52 acres is a decent chunk of land. But, unless they only want drill a gas well on the far reaches of the property (and you can get city supplied water -- gas well by products will often render the local ground water undrinkable), you would still be too close to the mining operations for my taste.