43-30A-6. Notice by surface owner--Contents--Proof of publication and mailing. In order to succeed to the ownership of an abandoned mineral interest, a surface owner shall give notice of the lapse of the mineral interest by publication. The publication shall be made once each week for three weeks in the official newspaper of the county in which the mineral interest is located. Notice shall also be given by mailing a copy of the notice by registered or certified mail to the record owner of the mineral interest at the record owner's address of record no later than ten days after the last publication.

The surface owner may rely upon the record mineral owner's last address of record in the office of county register of deeds in which the mineral interest is located. It is the record mineral owner's obligation to maintain an address of record in the office of the register of deeds in the county in which their mineral interest is located. Failure to maintain an address of record is a waiver by the record mineral owner of the requirement to mail a copy of the notice of lapse to the record mineral owner.

The notice shall state the name of the record owner of the mineral interest, the legal description of the land on or under which the mineral interest involved is located, and the name of the person giving the notice.

Recording a copy of the notice and an affidavit of its publication and any mailing in the office of the register of deeds for the county in which the mineral interest is located, is prima facie evidence that the notice has been properly given.

Source: SL 1985, ch 338, § 6; SL 2016, ch 215, § 5.