TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING Page 4Contract for Mineral Rights and Royalties • April 13th, 2021
formal agreement with individuals, associations, corporations, States, and municipalities, edu- cational 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 co- operators a royalty of not less than 21⁄2 per cen- tum of the sale value of any potash minerals and oil therefrom, said payments to con
