A mineral deposit is named as a special value for the plot on offer. In conversation the impression may arise that the land ownership also includes a freely usable reserve. For your price decision, however, several independent assumptions must be checked. A mineral name is neither proof of ownership nor an extraction permit nor a reliable earnings calculation.
Answer four questions before assuming value
Our editorial recommendation is to break the claim down into four parts:
- Which substance has actually been proven? – What it clarifies: subject and significance of existing investigations; What it alone does not prove: economically usable quantity
- What rights exist to it? – What it clarifies: relevant ownership and entitlement situation; What it alone does not prove: permissibility of a specific extraction
- Which project is possible at all? – What it clarifies: technical and legal prerequisites to be examined separately; What it alone does not prove: viability of the offered price
- What calculation is being claimed? – What it clarifies: assumptions about costs, revenues and timing; What it alone does not prove: secured future cash inflow
Do not adopt an unanswered question as a confirmed positive assumption in the next line.
Land ownership does not cover every mineral
§3 BBergG distinguishes between minerals that belong to the land and minerals that are free of land ownership. According to para. 2, land ownership does not extend to minerals that are free of land ownership. The provision contains lists as well as special and old-law references. [BODENSCHATZ]
Therefore have the specific mineral type and existing entitlements assigned by a specialist. A private seller cannot replace this distinction by the blanket wording “everything under the plot belongs to it”. The article does not declare any particular substance on your plot to be freely available and does not grant any extraction entitlement.
Relate the evidence to location and extent
Request existing investigations in full. To which area, depth and question do they relate? Does the information come from your purchase plot or from a larger region? General regional information is not independent proof of the promoted deposit.
Which additional investigation would be necessary is decided by the appropriate specialist. Do not commission any work on someone else’s land on your own initiative. Required permissions, consents and procedures must be clarified separately. This article does not deal with technical exploration methods.
Hypothetical case: the price justification skips two stages
An interested party receives a map with a regional mineral indication and a rough revenue estimate. Neither the specific quantity in the purchase plot nor the required entitlement and approval situation were explained. Nevertheless, the assumed revenue is meant to justify a substantial price premium.
The interested party first has the initial claim examined. Until a reliable result is available, they treat the revenue as an open future assumption. The example does not claim that the deposit is worthless or that extraction is impossible. It prevents several unverified steps from appearing as a finished asset.
Assess the plot even without the claimed additional value
Assess what use the plot has for you without the claimed mineral revenue. If the offer appears viable only because of this revenue, clarifying it is an essential purchase prerequisite. A professional valuation needs confirmed fundamentals; an arbitrarily chosen discount on an unproven profit estimate does not create those fundamentals.