mineral ownership

Mineral ownership refers to the legal right to extract and profit from underground resources like oil, gas, coal, or minerals, which can be owned separately from the surface land. The owner of the minerals can be the landowner (if rights are not severed) or a separate entity if rights have been sold or leased. These rights allow the owner to explore, develop, and produce minerals, often through lease agreements with operators. However, mineral rights can be sold, leased, or inherited independently of surface property, creating potential for differing ownership interests beneath a single parcel of land.