# Owning and Leasing My Minerals
**URL:** https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/owning-and-leasing-my-minerals/22459
**Category:** Oil and Gas Leasing Help
**Created:** [November 30, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/owning-and-leasing-my-minerals/22459 "2011-11-30T01:01:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@George\_Turk](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/George_Turk)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/owning-and-leasing-my-minerals/22459/1 "2011-11-30T01:01:52Z")
Based on the online Eagle Ford Shale maps, my 1 acre in De Witt County may be in the oil corridor. Several wells have been drilled (and are drilling now) within 2 miles of me in the past 3 months. My neighbors have leased their minerals, but no one has contacted me about my property. My deed says nothing about my not owning the minerals, so I assumed they were included when I bought the property. I have 2 questions: How do I confirm I own the minerals and do I need to contact local operators about leasing my minerals, or will a landman contact me eventually when they get around to drilling a well nearby? Thanks, George.
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### Author:  [@charles\_s\_mallory](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/charles_s_mallory)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/owning-and-leasing-my-minerals/22459/2 "2011-11-30T02:31:15Z")
George:
From what information you have provided, I will hazard to guess that the minerals were not included in your property ownership. If you will go to the County Clerk office in the county where your property is located, records will indicate the owner on record. When you purchased the property, did the paperwork state the minerals would be part of this sale?
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### Author:  [@George\_Turk](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/George_Turk)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/owning-and-leasing-my-minerals/22459/3 "2011-11-30T02:57:22Z")
When all of this activity started about 2 years ago, we assumed for some reason that we didn’t own the minerals. In a conversation a month or so ago with the prior owner, he said, “No, I didn’t withhold the minerals. Check the contract.” We did and came to the conclusion that we should own them. I.e., there was no mention whatsoever of them not being included. I guess it’s possible the prior owner never owned them, but this is doubtful, as he owns the surrounding acreage.
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### Author:  [@charles\_s\_mallory](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/charles_s_mallory)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/owning-and-leasing-my-minerals/22459/4 "2011-11-30T03:14:44Z")
George:
A characteristic in minerals is they often remain with the same owners several generations ago. As I said earlier, you will have to research the matter in order to find out if you or someone else hold these minerals. It would be worth your time as Eagle Ford Shale is a very good play.
George Turk said:
> When all of this activity started about 2 years ago, we assumed for some reason that we didn’t own the minerals. In a conversation a month or so ago with the prior owner, he said, “No, I didn’t withhold the minerals. Check the contract.” We did and came to the conclusion that we should own them. I.e., there was no mention whatsoever of them not being included. I guess it’s possible the prior owner never owned them, but this is doubtful, as he owns the surrounding acreage.
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### Author:  [@DJG](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/DJG)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/owning-and-leasing-my-minerals/22459/5 "2011-11-30T04:10:11Z")
George, If you spend a bit of time at the County Clerk’s office there in De Witt County you should be able to follow the trail backwards from your own possession of the surface property back through any previous transfers of ownership.
You will need to track your property to see if any of those prior owners had expressly reserved all or a portion of the mineral rights to the property in any of those deeds.
If no prior mineral reservations are found in any of those transactions, then the mineral rights would have then transferred along to you upon your purchase of the property.
Best of luck to you.
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### Author:  [@George\_Turk](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/George_Turk)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/owning-and-leasing-my-minerals/22459/6 "2011-12-07T03:02:52Z")
FYI, the De Witt County Clerk could not give us an answer. They sent us to the Title Company, which after some searching, declared that they could not prove we owned them, but due to the lack of other evidence, said we probably did.
DJG said:
George, If you spend a bit of time at the County Clerk’s office there in DeWitt County you should be able to follow the trail backwards from your own possession of the surface property back through any previous transfers of ownership.
You will need to track your property to see if any of those prior owners had expressly reserved all or a portion of the mineral rights to the property in any of those deeds.
If no prior mineral reservations are found in any of those transactions, then the mineral rights would have then transferred along to you upon your purchase of the property.
Best of luck to you.
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### Author:  [@system](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://www.mineralrightsforum.com/t/owning-and-leasing-my-minerals/22459/7 "2018-08-15T04:06:39Z")