When buying property in areas of potential or historic mineral development, a buyer should determine if a fee simple estate is being purchased or if ownership will be shared with others. Mineral rights transactions are normally a matter of public record, and copies of deeds or other agreements are filed at a government office.

Real estate buyers should ask the seller to specify what rights are being conveyed and have an attorney confirm that the seller owns what is being sold. In many areas the sale of mineral rights is recorded in the government record in a different deed book or database than the sale of surface property. This means that the deed to the surface property might not mention mineral rights which have been sold away. In areas of historic or potential mining activity, the buyer of a property should hire an attorney who can do this research and confirm what is being purchased. This can prevent future surprises and problems.

The mineral rights buyer probably prepared the sales agreement and prepared it so that everything will be in his favor. He wants the liberty to enter the property at any time, bring whatever equipment is needed, extract the mineral using any method, and make the minimum reclamation required by state law. A person who buys a home above these mineral rights one hundred years later will have no say in how the mineral owner uses his property as long as the mineral owner abides by the sales agreement and applicable laws.