(a) General. Anyone who was issued a mineral award prior to March 15, 1967, under former Texas Civil Statutes, Articles 5388-5403, may patent the mineral award upon proper compliance with the statutory requirements and the rules promulgated by the GLO.     
      (b) Lands and minerals subject to patent.      
        (1) All valuable mineral-bearing deposits, placers, veins, lodes, and rock carrying metallic or nonmetallic substances of value except oil, natural gas, coal, and lignite, shall be subject to patenting.       
        (2) Only those lands which are presently encumbered by a mineral award are subject to patenting.       
      (c) Maintaining a mineral award; annual assessment work.      
        (1) The owner of an award shall have the exclusive right to the possession and use of the minerals within the area of the claim so long as he continues to do or causes to be done the annual assessment work for each claim.       
        (2) The annual assessment work shall consist of an excavation in the form of a shaft or tunnel or an open cut to the extent of 10 feet in depth or length and at least four feet by five feet for the other dimensions. In the event the mineral sought is usually and customarily produced from drilling holes by means of machinery, except such minerals as oil, natural gas, coal, or lignite, then the drilling of a hole to such depth or length in lieu of the digging of a shaft or tunnel or open cut shall constitute the annual assessment work required.       
        (3) During the month of January, the owner of a mineral award shall file an annual assessment affidavit on a form prescribed and furnished by the GLO. The affidavit shall be signed and notarized and shall describe the assessment work which was completed during the previous year. If the assessment work accomplished is deemed insufficient or if the form is improperly completed, the owner of the mineral award will be notified.       
        (4) The annual assessment work for a contiguous group of mineral awards may be done on one mineral award.       
      (d) Rental payments.      
        (1) The owner of a mineral award shall pay annually $.50 per acre. This annual rental payment shall be due during the month of January of each year succeeding the year the mineral award was issued.       
        (2) Annual rental payments will be applied to the purchase price of the mineral patent.       
      (e) Royalty payments.      
        (1) In addition to rental payments, the owner of a mineral award shall pay a royalty of 6.25% of the value of the production of the minerals upon such award as shown by the net smelter, mill, mint, or refinery returns or of the gross sums arising from the sale of the ore or products from the award and received by the owner.       
        (2) Royalty payments arising from the sale of ores, minerals, or other products shall be due quarterly in January, April, July, and October for the quarters preceding.       
        (3) Royalty payments shall be accompanied by a production and royalty report filed on a form prescribed and furnished by the GLO.       
      (f) Inspection.      
        (1) The books, accounts, records, and contracts pertaining to production, transportation, sale, and marketing of minerals awarded will at all times be subject to inspection and examination by the commissioner, or his authorized representative, and copies of such records shall be furnished to the commissioner upon request.       
        (2) All mining, milling, and processing operations shall be subject at any time to inspection by the commissioner or his authorized representative and copies of records pertaining to these operations shall be furnished to the commissioner upon written request.       
        (3) A contract, agreement, or other amendment filed in the land office shall be treated as confidential unless otherwise authorized by the lessee.       
      (g) Forfeiture of mineral award.      
        (1) If the owner of a mineral award shall fail or refuse to make payment of any sum within 30 days after it becomes due, or if the owner or his authorized agent should knowingly make any false return or false report concerning production, mining, or development, or if the owner should fail or refuse the proper authority access to the records pertaining to the operations, or if the owner or authorized agent should knowingly fail or refuse to give correct information to the proper authority, or knowingly fail or refuse to submit to the GLO all correct reports required by statute, the rights acquired under the award shall be subject to forfeiture by the commissioner.       
        (2) Upon forfeiture of a mineral award, notice shall be mailed to the person, firm, or corporation shown by the records of the GLO to be the owner of the mineral award.       
        (3) Upon satisfactory evidence of future compliance with the law and with the GLO rules and regulations, the forfeiture may be set aside and all rights thereto reinstated.       
        (4) If a mineral award is forfeited and not reinstated, the land covered by the mineral award is not subject to being claimed or patented.       
      (h) Patenting a mineral award.      
        (1) At any time after five years from the date of a mineral award, the owner of the award may pay the balance due on the purchase price of the award and request a patent thereto.       
        (2) The owner of the mineral award shall make written request that the award be patented. The request shall be accompanied by three separate remittances: the balance of the purchase price, a patenting fee, and a recording fee. The appropriate patenting and recording fees are found in §3.31 of this title (relating to Fees).       
        (3) The purchase price of the mineral patent shall be $10 per acre, and the annual payments of $.50 per acre on the mineral award shall be applied to the purchase price.       
      (i) Mineral patent requirements.      
        (1) After the issuance of a mineral patent, no further assessment work will be required.       
        (2) The royalty due the state on a mineral patent shall be perpetual and shall be 6.25% of the value of the production of the minerals as shown by the net smelter, mill, mint, or refinery returns or of the gross sum, arising from the sale of the ore or products from the mineral patent and received by the owner.       
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §10.9 adopted to be effective March 22, 1989, 14 TexReg 1280; amended to be effective May 26, 1992, 17 TexReg 3473; amended to be effective July 11, 2004, 29 TexReg 6308; amended to be effective December 10, 2009, 34 TexReg 8776