Until recently a company by the name of Dakota Salts appeared to be actively snapping up mineral leases approx 155 miles north-west of Bismarck.
Recently in a state auction they appeared to show no interest. Does anybody know why this might be?
Phil, I think the state may ask a larger royalty than the potash producers offer to private mineral owners. I also believe that at this time potash royalty will be miniscule. I would also fear that the producer would include the right that they would be allowed to drill a water well on the leased premises ( of concern if you are the surface owner ) to inject water to disolve the salts so the salts could be pumped to the surface. I believe the water is more valuable than the potash. I also believe that surface damages could be quite extensive as the water needs to evaporate leaving the desired minerals. All this and more can be yours, and they may even pay you a couple of dollars per day. I barely know of the people who own the surface over my minerals, but it took very little study for me to determine that I would not subject them to a potash operation. I might change my mind if I don’t hear any complaints about potash extraction in the next decade. This is my opinion, based on brief thought and study. I’d be interested if anyone could point me to information that differs radically.
Hi, thanks for your reply.
I believe a state tax rate of 2% has already been set. I was wondering if there had been any discussion locally on Dakota Salts specifically and why they appear to have stopped accumulating mineral rights.
Thanks
On further study Phil, Dakota Salts was just recently drilling some test wells. They said it looked good. They also said they have no plant as of yet to process potash. Dakota Salts is still working the governmental side and answering environmental questions. Further leasing is probably waiting on state approval of their plans and waiting to see how much opposition the environmentalists will give. What Dakota Salts has found is on the confidential list until August 2012. My source was Bakken Bits. Beyond that I noted that the North Dakota colleges potash lease form provided for a two and one half (2.5 %) percent royalty. Hope this helps.