Mineral Land Professional Spotlight

Before a company can begin drilling for oil or gas, a Mineral Land Professional makes sure that the company can legally access and sell the minerals or resources found under the ground. This could be a different owner than the people who own the surface land rights. In Canada, almost 90 per cent of these minerals are owned by the government, and the rest is owned by individuals or companies. Mineral Land Professionals negotiate access deals and connect the company to the reservoir.

What a typical day looks like:

Mineral Land Professionals are brought in during the early project planning process. They work closely with exploration and development professionals, such as engineers, geologists and geophysicists to determine which oil or gas reservoirs the company could access. Then, they start the hunt to find out how to access and sell that underground resource.

Mineral Land Professionals search through databases, government documents and historic mineral rights data to determine who owns the rights to the minerals. They also look to see if another company already has a rental agreement for those resources.

Since most minerals in Canada are owned by the government, they usually meet with government regulators and registry agents to determine a rental agreement, which will give their company the ability to drill and sell oil or gas from a certain location. In cases where an individual owns the mineral rights, they meet with them in person to negotiate a deal.

They prepare lease agreements, document rental receipts and update mineral leasing. They keep detailed records of sales and rental payments. They organize regulatory rights claims and documents to ensure the company has access to the oil and gas resources.

The kinds of problems Mineral Land Professionals solve at work:

Mineral Land Professionals have to solve the puzzle of who owns what on a regular basis. Once they find the proper owner, they also have to negotiate a deal that satisfies both their company and the owner. They also oversee the sales and rental payments to make sure that everything goes through as agreed.

Skills used most on the job:

Mineral Land Professionals have strong communication skills and work well on a team. They are skilled researchers who are organized and pay keen attention to details. They also understand the regulatory processes in their province.

A Mineral Land Professional hunts down the mineral right owners to negotiate deals. They help their company access the resources.