Mineral Exploration Funds

While independent mineral operators have traditionally been confronted with a scarcity of risk capital for mineral development, willing investors have often experienced equal difficulty in locating responsible mineral operations in which to invest. The exploration fund, a means of channeling risk capital furnished by high-bracket taxpayers into mineral exploration, is one answer to this dilemma. In this article the author deals extensively with the mineral, tax, business association, and securities law problems involved in the organization and operation of such a fund

State Mineral Production Taxes and Mining Law Reform

Fuel and leasable minerals mined in the United States have historically been subject to federal royalties while locatable minerals have not. In recent years there have been multiple attempts to alter this policy and subject locatable minerals to federal royalties as well; most recently the preliminary 2011 Obama budget included a gross royalty on hard-rock mining on public lands. This paper analyzes the issue of imposing such federal royalties from both a legal and economic perspective. From a legal perspective, it is argued that the state of western property rights precludes royalties on currently extant claims so revenues from a royalty would not be realized for many years. From an economic perspective, it is argued that the effect on revenue would be smaller than one might anticipate due to such a royalty crowding out state levies or encouraging vertical disintegration on the part of mining firms to avoid much of the burden of the royalty.mining, taxation, royalties

Split Estates: A New Equilibrium Between Surface and Mineral Owners

The inaugural speaker was Bruce Kramer, who spoke on “Split Estates: A New Equilibrium between Surface and Mineral Owners.” Kramer was formerly the Maddox Professor of Law at Texas Tech University School of Law and is a co-author of a four-volume treatise titled The Law of Pooling and Unitization and a casebook titled Cases and Materials on Oil and Gas Law. He is a trustee of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation and chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Local Government of the Center of American and International Law

Split Estates: A New Equilibrium Between Surface and Mineral Owners

The inaugural speaker was Bruce Kramer, who spoke on “Split Estates: A New Equilibrium between Surface and Mineral Owners.” Kramer was formerly the Maddox Professor of Law at Texas Tech University School of Law and is a co-author of a four-volume treatise titled The Law of Pooling and Unitization and a casebook titled Cases and Materials on Oil and Gas Law. He is a trustee of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation and chair of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Local Government of the Center of American and International Law

Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law

This article is a survey of the relevant developments in oil, gas, and mineral law from December 1, 2019, through November 30, 2020. The article focuses on law likely to be influential to Texas practitioners