(a) General. Anyone who was issued a mineral award prior to
March 15, 1967, under former Texas Civil Statutes, Articles 5388-5403, may
patent the mineral award upon proper compliance with the statutory requirements
and the rules promulgated by the GLO.
(b) Lands and minerals subject to patent.
(1) All valuable mineral-bearing deposits, placers, veins,
lodes, geothermal energy and related resources, and rock carrying metallic
or nonmetallic substances of value except oil, natural gas, coal, and lignite,
shall be subject to patenting.
(2) Only those lands which are presently encumbered by a mineral
award are subject to patenting.
(c) Maintaining a mineral award; annual assessment work.
(1) The owner of an award shall have the exclusive right to
the possession and use of the minerals within the area of the claim so long
as he continues to do or causes to be done the annual assessment work for
each claim.
(2) The annual assessment work shall consist of an excavation
in the form of a shaft or tunnel or an open cut to the extent of 10 feet in
depth or length and at least four feet by five feet for the other dimensions.
In the event the mineral sought is usually and customarily produced from drilling
holes by means of machinery, except such minerals as oil, natural gas, coal,
or lignite, then the drilling of a hole to such depth or length in lieu of
the digging of a shaft or tunnel or open cut shall constitute the annual assessment
work required.
(3) During the month of January, the owner of a mineral award
shall file an annual assessment affidavit on a form prescribed and furnished
by the GLO. The affidavit shall be signed and notarized and shall describe
the assessment work which was completed during the previous year. If the assessment
work accomplished is deemed insufficient or if the form is improperly completed,
the owner of the mineral award will be notified.
(4) The annual assessment work for a contiguous group of mineral
awards may be done on one mineral award.
(d) Rental payments.
(1) The owner of a mineral award shall pay annually $.50 per
acre. This annual rental payment shall be due during the month of January
of each year succeeding the year the mineral award was issued.
(2) Annual rental payments will be applied to the purchase
price of the mineral patent.
(e) Royalty payments.
(1) In addition to rental payments, the owner of a mineral
award shall pay a royalty of 6.25% of the value of the production of the minerals
upon such award as shown by the net smelter, mill, mint, or refinery returns
or of the gross sums arising from the sale of the ore or products from the
award and received by the owner.
(2) Royalty payments arising from the sale of ores, minerals,
or other products shall be due quarterly in January, April, July, and October
for the quarters preceding.
(3) Royalty payments shall be accompanied by a production and
royalty report filed on a form prescribed and furnished by the GLO.
(f) Inspection.
(1) The books, accounts, records, and contracts pertaining
to production, transportation, sale, and marketing of minerals awarded will
at all times be subject to inspection and examination by the commissioner,
or his authorized representative, and copies of such records shall be furnished
to the commissioner upon request.
(2) All mining, milling, and processing operations shall be
subject at any time to inspection by the commissioner or his authorized representative
and copies of records pertaining to these operations shall be furnished to
the commissioner upon written request.
(g) Forfeiture of mineral award.
(1) If the owner of a mineral award shall fail or refuse to
make payment of any sum within 30 days after it becomes due, or if the owner
or his authorized agent should knowingly make any false return or false report
concerning production, mining, or development, or if the owner should fail
or refuse the proper authority access to the records pertaining to the operations,
or if the owner or authorized agent should knowingly fail or refuse to give
correct information to the proper authority, or knowingly fail or refuse to
submit to the GLO all correct reports required by statute, the rights acquired
under the award shall be subject to forfeiture by the commissioner.
(2) Upon forfeiture of a mineral award, notice shall be mailed
to the person, firm, or corporation shown by the records of the GLO to be
the owner of the mineral award.
(3) Upon satisfactory evidence of future compliance with the
law and with the GLO rules and regulations, the forfeiture may be set aside
and all rights thereto reinstated.
(4) If a mineral award is forfeited and not reinstated, the
land covered by the mineral award is not subject to being claimed or patented.
(h) Patenting a mineral award.
(1) At any time after five years from the date of a mineral
award, the owner of the award may pay the balance due on the purchase price
of the award and request a patent thereto.
(2) The owner of the mineral award shall make written request
that the award be patented. The request shall be accompanied by three separate
remittances: the balance of the purchase price, a patenting fee, and a recording
fee. The appropriate patenting and recording fees are found in §1.3 of
this title (relating to Fees).
(3) The purchase price of the mineral patent shall be $10 per
acre, and the annual payments of $.50 per acre on the mineral award shall
be applied to the purchase price.
(i) Mineral patent requirements.
(1) After the issuance of a mineral patent, no further assessment
work will be required.
(2) The royalty due the state on a mineral patent shall be
perpetual and shall be 6.25% of the value of the production of the minerals
as shown by the net smelter, mill, mint, or refinery returns or of the gross
sum, arising from the sale of the ore or products from the mineral patent
and received by the owner.
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