Does anyone have a link where I can find the authority of a mineral rights owner in TEXAS? We are reviewing a lithium lease and the lessee has a number of items about activity on the surface of the property. I am trying to determine what authority as a mineral rights owner that I can grant to the lessee. The lessee refers to egress, how close a well can be located to a house, use of surface area for their operations, use of non potable water, etc. I want to make sure I am not granting permission for items that I have not authority over. Thanks.
If you do not own surface rights or authority for surface rights, then you cannot grant those rights to a Lessee. You can add an addendum to the Lease that specifically states that the Lease is only limited to the Mineral Estate.
Thanks for the information.
This sounds like an oil and gas lease form with word lithium substituted. I am assuming that the lease does not reference oil and gas or else you have some mixture with someone trying to hold everything. Lithium leasing is its infancy and there are still a lot of questions. There will be a push by speculators hoping to acquire rights to sell on. Do not be in a rush or the terms will not be to your advantage, especially with long extensions. Do some research to see what a lithium lease should contain. Consider who the lessee is and what project is on the books for this lease. It is my impression that there are not any lithium operations in Texas at this time, but one is starting to gear up in East TX.