Below is an article from over on the LandThink Blog on mineral rights. It is written by a geologist and land broker in Northern Michigan, but his advice is very applicable to our area as well. Make sure mineral rights are something worth making an issue of before you do so.
Mineral Rights and Northern Michigan Land
By David Huey on December 30, 2009
Working in the remote land business in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (or, simply the U.P. as we locals call it), an issue that I see increasingly arising is whether mineral rights are included, or available, with parcels of land. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has a long history of mining and exploration dating back to the 1800s. In fact, the City of Houghton was first proposed as the state capitol due to the rich copper deposits found throughout the area and the population and influence that resulted. With rich native copper mines of the western U.P., high grade iron ore deposits within four different iron ranges, two former producing gold mines in the central U.P., and countless other small scale historical mines; this area is no stranger to it’s mining heritage. Much time has passed since the hay days of Michigan mining, and currently there are only two operational mines (iron ore). READ MORE: http://www.landthink.com/land-buying-investing/mineral-rights/mineral-rights-and-northern-michigan-land/comment-page-1/#comment-2007