Private mineral rights questions

wolf99

Hi Folks,

I've been taking a look around the Minerals Ireland website but not found any direct answers on obtaining private *ownership* (not lease or licence) of mineral rights for a specific area.

If they are not privately held is it possible to purchase ownership from the state?

What sort of cost would such purchase be? I'm guessing it would be related to area and possibility of valuable minerals within the claim area - but is there any guide on these type of things or even just a ball-park?

Thanks

NotCarrotRidge

Mineral rights is a complicated and thorny issue, but the basic rule is that mineral rights are held by the state. In some cases they are held by individuals, but that is pretty much always because they have been inherited or transferred in some way from another individual. The state will license the extraction of minerals for mines and quarries, but the mineral rights aren't actually transferred, just a licence to extract. If you don't plan to open a mine or quarry, I think it's unlikely that they'll grant you extraction rights. The state does not sell its mineral rights.

You can also apply for a prospecting licence. That allows you to explore for minerals, and if you find something, you will then be entitled to apply for a mining lease or licence. The cost to take out a prospecting licence varies, but that is explained fairly well on the EMD website.

wolf99

Hi NotCarrotRidge,

Thanks for the info. Was asking about this because of the recent furor about gas fracking in Ireland and the problems faced by landowners in the US, Australia and elsewhere where landowners had fracking companies walk onto their land and setup well pads in the middle of fields with out even a by-your-leave as the landowner does not have mineral rights

It seems from the info on the EMD site plus your response that basically there is no way an individual can stop this from happening... so much for the inviolability of the home and the right to private property

NotCarrotRidge

Wolf, if you're interested in oil/gas, then you should be looking at the Petroleum Affairs Division, which is a sister division of EMD. I am not so familiar with how that operates. http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Natural/Petroleum+Affairs+Division/

Regarding private property, that only extends to surface rights. Minerals and hydrocarbons are seen as a national resource by the state and if the state feels that it is in the national interest to have them exploited, then that will override the private surface rights of the individual. I suppose the state looks at it in a similar way to CPOs for motorway building.

wolf99

Thanks.
I followed that up with:
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1960/en/act/pub/0007/sec0019.html

and

http://www.mineralsireland.ie/Exploration+Licensing+Process/

or

http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Natural/Petroleum+Affairs+Division/Licensing+Applications/

Based on that info it looks like the only exclusive usage "tool" is a Reserved Area License which currently costs €9,122 plus application fee for a period of maybe six years or maybe annually depending on which agency fracking comes under as PAD seem to be more for off-shore resources

NotCarrotRidge

PAD has generally focussed on off-shore, obviously enough, but I am pretty sure that it is the correct line division for gas fracking as well. You could always just ring one or the other, and ask. All of the PAD contact details are here. I do know that their colleagues in EMD are unfailingly helpful and courteous, so I can't imagine that PAD would be any different.