Texas Administrative Code › Title 31 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION › Part 1 - GENERAL LAND OFFICE › Chapter 10 - EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF STATE MINERALS OTHER THAN OIL AND GAS › Section 10.3 - Mining Leases on Properties Subject to Prospect

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Lands and minerals subject to lease.
				Those tracts of land and those minerals subject to prospect permit are subject
				to lease under this section. See §
									10.1
				of this title (relating to Definitions; Exploration and Development
				Guide).
(b) Lease application
				requirements and procedures.
(1) In an
				application for prospect permit on a state tract, an applicant may indicate
				that a specific mineral is located on the state tract and request an immediate
				issuance of a lease on that tract. A lease may be issued to the applicant in
				lieu of a prospect permit if the commissioner of the GLO determines that such a
				mineral is located on the state tract and that issuance of a lease to the
				applicant is in the best interest of the PSF.
(2) At any time during the effective period
				of a prospect permit, the permittee may submit an application to lease the area
				covered by the prospect permit or a designated portion thereof.
(3) Application to lease shall include:
(A) an identification of the applicant's
				prospect permit;
(B) the date of
				issuance of the prospect permit;
(C) a description of the tract of land which
				identifies it by section number, part of the section or survey to be leased,
				block number, township number, and/or certificate number, if applicable, survey
				name, number of acres contained in the section, and county or counties in which
				the land lies and, if land trade lands, the name and address of surface owner
				of record in the tax assessor's office;
(D) the name, address, phone number, and
				Texas Comptroller's taxpayer ID number of a non-corporate applicant;
(E) the corporate name, phone number, Texas
				Comptroller's taxpayer ID number, address, the name of the officer authorized
				to execute permits and leases;
(F)
				designation of the mineral or minerals proposed to be mined;
(G) statement of the applicant's proposed
				lease terms; and
(H) field notes
				prepared by the county surveyor or a licensed state land surveyor describing
				the area to be leased, if such area is less than that covered by the prospect
				permit and cannot be accurately described as a part of the section, such as
				NE/4.
(4) The TPWD may
				review the leasing of lands whose surface is owned or leased by TPWD or is
				subject to a conservation easement in favor of TPWD, but whose minerals are
				subject to lease under this section. Within 10 days of receipt of an
				application to lease on such lands, the GLO shall notify the executive director
				of TPWD.
(5) The application to
				lease shall be accompanied by a filing fee prescribed by §
										3.31 of this
				title (relating to Fees) and the proposed lease payment which shall not be less
				than $2.00 per acre.
(6) In order
				to fully evaluate the application to lease, GLO staff may request that an
				applicant submit additional information, including information about the
				proposed mining operation.
(7) Each
				application to lease shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner and
				will be evaluated by the staff in order to determine whether the lease is in
				the best interest of the state by considering the following:
(A) whether the proposed lease terms and
				conditions are in conformity with the Texas Natural Resources Code,
				§§
											53.015 -
				53.030, 53.155, and this section;
(B) whether the proposed lease terms are
				comparable to the best leases in the area which cover the same mineral or
				minerals;
(C) whether the proposed
				lease terms are compatible with other valuable uses of the leased premises;
				and
(D) whether the lease terms
				adequately compensate the PSF for the loss of other valuable uses of the leased
				premises.
(8) If the
				commissioner rejects an application to lease, the applicant will be notified
				and will be advised of the specific reasons for the denial. Applicant may
				appeal being denied a lease by requesting a hearing.