30 U.S.C. § 4b : US Code - Section 4B: Cooperation with individuals, municipalities, etc.; contracts with owners; agreements as to prices

Search 30 U.S.C. § 4b : US Code - Section 4B: Cooperation with individuals, municipalities, etc.; contracts with owners; agreements as to prices

The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce
jointly are hereby authorized, within their discretion, to
cooperate under formal agreement with individuals, associations,
corporations, States, and municipalities, educational institutions,
or other bodies, for the purposes of this section: Provided, That
before undertaking drilling operations upon any tract or tracts of
land, the mineral deposits of which are not the property of the
United States, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Commerce jointly shall enter into a contract or contracts with the
owners or lessees, or both, of the mineral rights therein, and the
aforesaid contract or contracts shall provide, among other things,
that, if deposits of potash minerals or oil shall be discovered in
pursuance of operations under said contract or contracts and if and
when said mineral deposits shall be mined and sold, the owners or
lessees, or both, of said mineral rights shall pay to the
Government and its cooperators a royalty of not less than 2 1/2
per centum of the sale value of any potash minerals and oil
therefrom, said payments to continue until such time as the total
amount derived from said royalty is equal to not more than the cost
of the exploration, as may be determined by the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Commerce jointly: Provided further,
That all Federal claims for reimbursement under this section shall
automatically expire twenty years from the date of approval of the
contracts entered into, in accordance with the provisions thereof,
unless sooner terminated by agreement between the owners or lessees
of the potash mineral rights and oil and the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Commerce jointly: Provided further,
That said contract or contracts shall not restrict the Secretary of
the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce jointly in the choice of
drilling locations within the property or in the conduct of the
exploratory operations, so long as such selection or conduct do not
interfere unreasonably with the surface of the land or with the
improvements thereof, and said contract or contracts shall provide
that the United States shall not be liable for damages on account
of such reasonable use of the surface as may be necessary in the
proper conduct of the work.