Mellette County Statement of Claim of Mineral Interest Form

A severed mineral interest in South Dakota does not stay on the books forever. Under South Dakota Codified Laws chapter 43-30A, the state's abandoned mineral interests act, a mineral interest that goes unused for twenty-three years or more is abandoned, and title vests in the owner of the surface estate above it. This fillable statement of claim of mineral interest is the one-owner filing that preserves severed mineral rights, oil, gas, coal, or any other mineral, and starts the twenty-three year period running fresh.

A Twenty-Three Year Clock on Severed Minerals

South Dakota severed thousands of mineral estates from their surface acres over the last century, most often through a reservation clause in the deed of the ranch or farm above them. SDCL 43-30A-2 puts every one of those dormant mineral interests on a clock: twenty-three years without a use, and the interest is abandoned, with title vesting in the surface owner. SDCL 43-30A-3 lists what counts as use: actual production, injection or storage operations, a recorded lease, conveyance, or mortgage that makes specific reference to the interest, a pooling or unitization order, taxes paid on the interest, and, the one act entirely within a dormant owner's control, recording a statement of claim.

The South Dakota Supreme Court read those rules in Holsti v. Kimber, 2014 S.D. 21, treating recorded oil and gas leases, mineral deeds, and a statement of claim in the chain of title as uses that defeated a surface owner's abandonment suit.

One Recording Resets the Period

Under SDCL 43-30A-4, a mineral interest is in use on the date a complying statement of claim is recorded. The statute asks for three things: the record owner's name and mailing address, a legal description of the land on or under which the interest lies, and recording in the office of the register of deeds for the county where the mineral interest is located. This form carries those contents and adds the identifying detail title examiners look for: a description of the share and substances claimed, and the recorded reservation or mineral deed the interest comes from. A joint tenant may record one statement on behalf of all joint tenants, and the form names them; a tenant in common claims only that owner's undivided share, so co-tenants appear in the record with separate statements.

The mailing address earns its place twice. A surface owner who moves to succeed to lapsed minerals publishes a notice of lapse and mails it to the mineral owner's address of record under SDCL 43-30A-6, and a record owner reached that way still has sixty days after publication to record a statement of claim under SDCL 43-30A-5. The notice of lapse and the quiet title action that complete a surface owner's succession are separate statutory filings, prepared and recorded separately, and are not included in this package.

Built for the Register of Deeds Counter

The statement is signed before a notary, since South Dakota registers of deeds record acknowledged instruments under SDCL 43-28-8. The form reserves the three inch blank band across the top of the first page that SDCL 43-28-23 requires, places the SDCL 43-28-23 preparer statement in the band's left half where the statute permits it, and keeps ten point type on white letter size stock. The statewide recording fee is thirty dollars under SDCL 7-9-15. A statement of claim transfers no title, so the transfer fee and Certificate of Real Estate Value that accompany South Dakota deeds do not apply to it.

The download includes the statement of claim as a fillable PDF, a completed example showing a Harding County mineral reservation preserved from start to finish, and a plain language guide that walks through every section, the twenty-three year rules behind them, and the recording steps. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.