Mineral rights

[PennyG]

Has anyone had experience with mineral estates (rights)? I'm curious how one goes about exploring the land you don't own to see what sort of minerals are there that you do own.
My Great Great Uncle went around the south purchasing mineral rights in several states. We typically don't know where until oil companies contact my father. I always wondered if there were mines or caves somewhere on the land , and with proper approval , dig.

 

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[DDancer]

Your question would be better put up in the prospecting threads as a lot of individuals there have experience with mineral rights issues. Gold prospecting involves a lot of what you may be wondering on. Check the threads there first as there is much that has been said on the subject already.

 

[Eu_citzen]

I'm not sure on the specific laws in the US, but I've been prospecting for many years.
The steps taken in prospecting depend very much on the location and conditions.

Are there known mines? Are there documents/papers or anything else that describes the area and it's geology? (see USGS, US geological survey)
Geophysical maps? Are the mineral(s) you're looking for in the river (i.e. alluvial) or in hard rock?
Has the area been glaciated during the last ice age?

The most basic variation is having a gold pan or geology hammer and strolling the area you have in mind.
You'll be sending interesting pieces for assay and marking them on a map, for reference in terms of rocks.
Find gold in a river will have you doing something similar, going upstream, looking for the source...
Unless the rivers gold content is good enough and can be mined as such.
I hope you can see the question is quite comprehensive. If I where you, I'd limit the question to something which can be contained in one post.

 

[PennyG]

I'm not sure on the specific laws in the US, but I've been prospecting for many years.
The steps taken in prospecting depend very much on the location and conditions.

Are there known mines? Are there documents/papers or anything else that describes the area and it's geology? (see USGS, US geological survey)
Geophysical maps? Are the mineral(s) you're looking for in the river (i.e. alluvial) or in hard rock?
Has the area been glaciated during the last ice age?

The most basic variation is having a gold pan or geology hammer and strolling the area you have in mind.
You'll be sending interesting pieces for assay and marking them on a map, for reference in terms of rocks.
Find gold in a river will have you doing something similar, going upstream, looking for the source...
Unless the rivers gold content is good enough and can be mined as such.
I hope you can see the question is quite comprehensive. If I where you, I'd limit the question to something which can be contained in one post.

Thank you. All good questions to be thinking about and finding the answers to.
It's good to be over informed than under.