§ 1-42.7. Additional amount mineral claims extinguished in Chatham County; oil, gas and mineral interests to be recorded and listed for taxation.
§1‑42.7. Additional amount mineral claims extinguished in Chatham County;oil, gas and mineral interests to be recorded and listed for taxation.
(a) Where it appears onthe public records that the fee simple title to any oil, gas or mineralinterest in an area of land has been severed or separated from the surface feesimple ownership of such land and such interest is not in actual course ofbeing mined, drilled, worked or operated, or in the adverse possession ofanother, or that the record titleholder of any such oil, gas or mineralinterest has not listed the same for ad valorem tax purposes in the county inwhich the same is located for a period of 10 years prior to January 1, 1979,any person having the legal capacity to own land in this State, who has onSeptember 1, 1979, an unbroken chain of title of record to such surface estateof such area of land for at least 50 years, and provided such surface estate isnot in the adverse possession of another, shall be deemed to have a marketabletitle to such surface estate as provided in the succeeding subsections of thissection, subject to such interests and defects as are inherent in theprovisions and limitations contained in the muniments of which such chain ofrecord title is formed.
(b) Such marketabletitle shall be held by such person and shall be taken by his successors ininterest free and clear of any and all such fee simple oil, gas or mineralinterests in such area of land founded upon any reservation or exceptioncontained in an instrument conveying the surface estate in fee simple which wasexecuted or recorded at least 50 years or more prior to September 1, 1979, andsuch oil, gas or mineral interests are hereby declared to be null and void andof no effect whatever at law or in equity: Provided, however, that any such feesimple oil, gas or mineral interest may be preserved and kept effective byrecording within two years after September 1, 1979, a notice in writing dulysworn to and subscribed before an official authorized to take probate by G.S.47‑1, which sets forth the nature of such oil, gas or mineral interestand gives the book and page where recorded. Such notice shall be probated asrequired for registration of instruments by G.S. 47‑14 and recorded inthe office of the register of deeds of the county wherein such area of land orany part thereof lies, and in the book therein kept or provided under the termsof G.S. 1‑42 for the purpose of recording certain severances of surfaceand subsurface land rights, and shall state the name and address of theclaimant and, if known, the name of the surface owner and also contain eithersuch a description of the area of land involved as to make said propertyreadily located thereby or due incorporation by reference of the recordedinstrument containing the reservation or exception of such oil, gas or mineralinterest. Such notice may be made and recorded by the claimant or by any otherperson acting on behalf of any claimant who is either under a disability,unable to assert a claim on his own behalf, or one of a class but whoseidentity cannot be established or is uncertain at the time of filing suchnotice of claim for record.
(c) This section shallbe construed to effect the legislative purpose of facilitating land titletransactions by extinguishing certain ancient oil, gas or mineral claims unlesspreserved by recording as herein provided. The oil, gas or mineral claimshereby extinguished shall include those of persons whether within or withoutthe State, and whether natural or corporate, but shall exclude governmentalclaims, State or federal, and all such claims by reason of unexpired oil, gasor mineral releases.
(d) Within two yearsfrom November 1, 1979, all oil, gas or mineral interests in land severed orseparated from the surface fee simple ownership must be listed for ad valoremtaxes and notice of such interests must be filed in writing in the mannerprovided by G.S. 1‑ 42.5(b) and recorded in the local registry in thebook provided by G.S. 1‑42, to be effective against the surface fee simpleowner or creditors, purchasers, heirs or assigns of such owner. Subsurface oil,gas and mineral interests shall be assessed for ad valorem taxes as realproperty and such taxes shall be collected and foreclosed in the mannerauthorized by Chapter 105 of the General Statutes of North Carolina. The boardof county commissioners shall publish a notice of this subsection in anewspaper published in the county or having general circulation in the countyonce a week for four consecutive weeks prior to November 1, 1979.
This section shall apply toChatham County only. (1979, c. 343, ss. 1, 2.)