State Mineral Leases
Go to Section:- Overview
- Data Quality
- Data Organization
- Coordinate System
- Attributes
- Distribution - Get Data
- Metadata Reference
Section 1: Overview
Originator:Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) - Lands and Minerals
Title:
State Mineral Leases
Abstract:
The State of Minnesota issues mineral leases on state-owned and state-administered fee mineral interests. The lease types include iron ore, taconite, industrial mineral, non-ferrous, and miscellaneous. These layers are of active or historic State mineral leases, administered by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, mapped to the PLS forty and government lot. When there is no match to the PLS forty or government lot in the PLS40 layer, a record is then matched to the PLS section layer. These layers merge the DNR Control Point Generated PLS layer (PLS40) with land records stored in the DNR's Land Record System (LRS) in Oracle. The data are limited to a forty, government lot, or section level representation. Therefore, any state mineral leases that are less than a forty, government lot, or section, are represented by the entire forty, government lot, or section.
There are four layers included in this geodatabase:
1) active (closed or completed) mineral leases mapped to the PLS forty or government lot,
2) dissolved active mineral leases, where the mineral lease areas have been merged based on specific attributes, such as the lease number (i.e., the DNRTRNXNUM field), type of lease, start and expiration dates, but not the attributes to the PLS forty and government lot,
3) historic mineral leases that have ended, and
4) dissolved historic mineral leases, where the mineral lease areas have been merged based on specific attributes, such as the lease number (i.e., the DNRTRNXNUM field), type of lease, start and expiration and termination dates, but not the attributes to the PLS forty and government lot.
The names for these layers are active_minleases, active_minleases_dissolved, historic_minleases, historic_minleases_dissolved.
Purpose:
To provide Minnesota DNR resource managers, DNR land records specialists, and the general public access to DNR land records in GIS format.
Time Period of Content Date:
09/07/2023
Currentness Reference:
Time Period of Content date indicates the date which the user can be confident of accuracy and completeness of the dataset. Updates occur weekly, for all of the active State mineral leases layers. The control point generated PLS layer (often referred to as PLS40) was created during the 1990s, with the information based on the General Land Office (GLO) plats and field notes, ranging from the mid-1800s to 1998. Since that time, additional GLO plats have been used to modify the PLS40 layer to incorporate more recent surveys, especially island surveys, and to make corrections to the PLS40 layer. To better map the state ownership, a version of PLS40 was modified to include several non-BLM (Bureau of Land Management) surveys. Note that during processing, any land record that does not match to the PLS forty or government lot is then matched to the PLS section to include as many of the land records as possible in this layer.
Progress:
In work
Maintenance and Update Frequency:
Weekly
Spatial Extent of Data:
Statewide
Bounding Coordinates:
-97.23
-89.53
49.37
43.5
Place Keywords:
Minnesota
Theme Keywords:
planning, mineral leases, land ownership, interest types, public land survey (PLS), land stewardship, natural resources
Theme Keyword Thesaurus:
Access Constraints:
Unrestricted
Use Constraints:
Internal DNR use is unrestricted. External use is constrained by the standard, general DNR GIS Data License Agreement.
Contact Person Information:
Zeb Thomas,
GIS Data Systems Coordinator
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Rd
Saint Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: 651-259-5637
Email: zeb.thomas@state.mn.us
Associated Data Sets:
Section 2: Data Quality
Attribute Accuracy:
Not specifically assessed
Logical Consistency:
The original PLS40 layer was built as separate townships, or parts of townships, coverages in Arc/INFO (from ESRI) during the 1990s. Due to the manner in which the original surveys were drawn as GLO plats based on the GLO field notes, interpretation errors reading the GLO plats, and Arc/INFO processing methods used, there are gaps and overlaps in the PLS40 layer.
Completeness:
Only those PLS forties, government lots, or sections in which the State holds an interest are included in these layers. Note that less than 1% of the Land Records currently do not have some type of polygon match in the PLS40 layer. In some instances, the no match land records represent islands that were never surveyed and were therefore not included in the GLO plats and field notes. In other cases, it may be that the geocode for a land record does not match a geocode in the PLS40 layer (e.g., the land record lists a forty description, but the parcel is really in a government lot). When a geocode of a land record does not match to the PLS40 layer, another match is done to the PLS section layer to include the land record, in some way, in this set of layers.
Horizontal Positional Accuracy:
Variable. At its least accurate, the PLS data are based upon points from manual digitizing of PLS section corners from 1:24000 scale, paper, USGS quadrangles (comprising about 90% of the points used to build the PLS40 layer). At its most accurate, the data is based upon points collected using GPS units operating at a sub-meter level of accuracy.
Vertical Positional Accuracy:
Not applicable
Lineage:
The PLS40 layer was built in the 1990s with Arc/INFO from ESRI, using points digitized from 1:24000 USGS paper quads and some surveyed points. Cadastral Measurement Management (CMM) software from the Bureau of Land Management was used to combine the point data with bearings and distances captured from the GLO plats and Survey notes to subdivide sections into their aliquot parts, such as a forty or government lot. In Arc/INFO, the PLS layer was built township by township and later combined into county coverages. Meander lines were added to the township coverages using the bearings and distances from the original survey notes with Arc/COGO. After converting the coverages to shapefiles, the county layers were merged into one, statewide-layer, with no error checking for gaps or overlaps of polygon features.
Section 3: Spatial Data Organization (not used in this metadata)
Section 4: Coordinate System
Horizontal Coordinate Scheme:
Universal Transverse Mercator
UTM Zone Number:
15
Horizontal Datum:
NAD83
Horizontal Units:
meters
Vertical Datum:
Vertical Units:
Depth Datum:
Depth Units:
Section 5: Attributes
Overview:
Attributes for xxx_minLeases, where xxx can be active or historic:
DNRREGION - the name of the DNR region (currently, Northwest, Northeast, Central, Southern)
COUNTYNAME - name of one of Minnesota's counties
COUN - county identified using a 2-digit number from 1 to 87
TOWN - PLS township number, where the township is always N(orth). The township numbers range from 26-71 in the 4th Principal Meridian and from 101-168 in the 5th Principal Meridian.
RDIR - range direction identifier, and 1/2-township and 1/2-range identifiers (where 0 = W(est), 1 = E(ast), and 2 = half-township (T58-1/2N R17W) or half-range (T159N R42-1/2W or T160N R42-1/2W), where these half-township and half-range records are all range W(est)).
RANG - PLS range number. The range numbers range from 1-32W and 1-7E in the 4th Principal Meridian and from 3-51W in the 5th Principal Meridian.
SECT - PLS section number or tract number. BLM assigns a tract number to a parcel of land that lies in more than one section in a township or that cannot be identified as being part of a particular section. The numbering of tracts in a township start with 37 to avoid confusion with section numbers. Refer to the Glossary found under the BLM General Land Office Records website for more information about tracts.
FORT - 2-digit code to identify the PLS forty (gives an approximate location in the section if there is a government lot). Refer to the FORTDESC field for a text description of these codes.
GLOT - PLS lot number (often referred to as government lot). Land Records with a GLOT = 99 indicates a meandered water body. (GLOT = 99 was used in combination with FORT = 0 to identify meandered water bodies in the PLS40 layer.)
GM_CH - a 13- or 14-character string that represents the PLS to the government lot. This field is used to match to PLS40. The format of this field is as follows: CCTTTDRRSSFFGG, where CC is COUN, TTT is TOWN, D is RDIR, RR is RANG, SS is SECT, FF is FORT or '00' (see following note), and GG is GLOT. Note: if the GLOT is greater than 0, such as government lot 1, the FF part of GM_CH is set to 00.
FORTDESC - the PLS forty (aka aliquot part) description using text. A 4-character string, such as NWNE, should be read as the Northwest 1/4 of the Northeast 1/4. For extra tall and wide townships, additional government lots are added to sections and the FORTDESC field will be similar to 'Third government lot West of SWSW.'
PLSMATCH - specifies if the land record matches to the PLS forty/government lot or to the PLS section. That is, in most cases, the land record matches to the PLS forty or government lot (forty/glot-level) layer. The mismatches from this check are then matched against the PLS section (section-level) layer so that a user knows that there is a land record somewhere in the section, but the exact location is unknown or there may be an error in some element of the geocode creating a no-match between the land record and PLS40. Note: some land records, not including SECT > 36 (i.e., the PLS tract numbers) are only section-level records and can be identified by FORT = 0 and GLOT = 0 and only match to the section-level. Because tracts are mapped as part of PLS40, these records are flagged as matching to the forty/glot-level.
DNRTRNXNUM - the DNR transaction number of the mineral lease transaction.
T_LEASETYPE - the type of mineral lease (includes Industrial Mineral, Iron Ore, Miscellaneous Lease, Non-Ferrous, Residue, Taconite)
T_LEASETERM - the length of the mineral lease, in years
MINING_UNIT_NUMBER - some of the mineral lease types are offered by the "mining unit", where the properties being leased are found in one PLS section. The format of the MINING_UNIT_NUMBER is cc-ss-ttt-rr, where cc is a one or two letter abbreviation for the county, ss is the one or two digit PLS section, ttt is the two or three digit PLS township, and rr is the two digit PLS range number.
T_STARTDATE - the start date for the mineral lease
T_EXPDATE - the expiration date for the mineral lease
T_TERMINATEDATE - the termination date for the mineral lease. (Applies to historic mineral leases only.) See note at the bottom of this Attributes Overview section for more information about T_EXPDATE and T_TERMINATEDATE.
T_PNAMES - the receiving party or receiving parties of the mineral lease
T_INTACRES - the total number of acres for this mineral lease
T_INTNETACRES - the total net acres (considers undivided interests) for this mineral lease
ML_SU_SUID - the non-unique ID of a LRS spatial unit that is a character field type. In the Land Record System (LRS), spatial units are versioned each time a spatial unit is updated or whenever another type of transaction has included it. Therefore, this field does not reflect the versioning that occurs.
ML_SU_SUIDNUM - the SU_SUID of a spatial unit as a number, so that users match the mineral lease spatial units with the spatial unit SUIDs of other interest types. The character field version often results in mismatches because of extra spaces.
ML_SU_ACRES - the number of acres in the spatial unit that are part of the mineral lease (usually the entire PLS forty or government lot). The sum of ML_SU_ACRES should equal T_INTACRES.
ML_SU_NETACRES - the number of undivided interest acres in the spatial unit that are part of the mineral lease. The sum of ML_SU_NETACRES should equal T_INTNETACRES.
ML_SU_LANDCLASS - identifies the means by which the lands and mineral rights were obtained by the State and is used to direct income to the correct fund. The categories (with definitions from the introduction to a Mining Unit Book for a metallic mineral lease sale, but not including the description of how the revenues are distributed based on the LANDCLASS) include
CCA - Consolidated Conservation Area Lands
DOT - Lands acquired by the Department of Transportation
ESCHEAT - Lands escheated to the state due to the absence of any legal heir
FOREST - Lands acquired by MNDNR, Division of Forestry for state forest purposes
FORF MINS - Forfeited Severed Minerals
GAME/FISH - Game and Fish Fund Lands acquired by purchase for game and fish purposes and managed by the MNDNR, Division of Fish and Wildlife
GEN GIFT - Lands and mineral rights granted to the state through gift with no specific fund designated for distribution of any income
GENERAL - General Fund. Tax forfeited lands acquired free from the trust in favor of taxing districts pursuant to resolution of a county board.
LUP - Land Utilization Project Lands purchased by the U.S. Government from private individuals and subsequently deeded to the State of Minnesota.
NREG MINS - Nonregistered Severed Minerals. Severed mineral interests where the owner has failed to file a verified statement required by a Minnesota Statute before dates specified in another Minnesota Statute.
R CREDIT - Lands acquired by the state through mortgage foreclosure proceedings under the Rural Credit laws.
SCHOOL - School, swamp, and indemnity school lands that were granted to the state from the federal government. The state represents it owns the minerals for these lands acquired from the federal government.
SCHOOL* - School, swamp, and indemnity school lands that were acquired through exchange involving trust fund lands. The state does not guarantee to own the minerals acquired in this way.
SCHOOL@ - School, swamp, and indemnity school lands that were acquired through settlement of a court action involving trust fund lands. The state does not guarantee to own the minerals acquired in this way.
TAX LANDS - Tax Forfeited Lands. Lands forfeited to the state for nonpayment of general real estate taxes.
TAX MINS - Tax Forfeited Minerals. Severed mineral interests that have forfeited to the state for nonpayment of severed mineral interests taxes.
UNIV - University lands that were patented to the state from the federal government. The state represents that it owns the minerals for these lands acquired from the federal government.
UNIV* - University lands that were acquired through exchange involving these lands. The state does not guarantee to own the minerals acquired in this way.
VOLSTEAD - Volstead Lands. Federal Public Domain Lands that had been subject to Volstead liens for drainage projects and that have subsequently been purchased by the State of Minnesota. The state represents that it owns the minerals acquired in this way.
VOLSTEAD* - Volstead Lands acquired by exchange. The state does not guarantee to own the minerals acquired in this way.
ML_SU_SURFACESTATUS - Yes indicates that the Surface is owned by the State and is included in the mining unit. No indicates that the Surface is not included with the mineral rights. It is possible that the state owns the surface through an acquisition different from the mineral rights acquisition.
DATA_DOWNLOADDATE - the date the data was downloaded from the Land Record System
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Attributes for xxx_minLeases_dissolved, where xxx can be active or historic:
DNRTRNXNUM - the DNR transaction number of the mineral lease transaction.
T_LEASETYPE - the type of mineral lease (includes Industrial Mineral, Iron Ore, Miscellaneous Lease, Miscellaneous Permit, Non-Ferrous, Peat, Residue, TDA (taconite drilling authorization), Taconite)
T_LEASETERM - the length of the mineral lease, in years
MINING_UNIT_NUMBER - some of the mineral lease types are offered by the "mining unit", where the properties being leased are found in one PLS section. The format of the MINING_UNIT_NUMBER is cc-ss-ttt-rr, where cc is a one or two letter abbreviation for the county, ss is the one or two digit PLS section, ttt is the two or three digit PLS township, and rr is the two digit PLS range number.
T_STARTDATE - the start date for the mineral lease
T_EXPDATE - the end date for the mineral lease
T_TERMINATEDATE - the termination date for the mineral lease. (Applies to historic mineral leases only.) See note at the bottom of this Attributes Overview section for more information about T_EXPDATE and T_TERMINATEDATE.
T_PNAMES - the receiving party or receiving parties of the mineral lease
T_INTACRES - the total number of acres for this mineral lease
T_INTNETACRES - the total net acres (considers undivided interests) for this mineral lease
DATA_DOWNLOADDATE - the date the data was downloaded from the Land Record System
NOTE: For mineral leases that ended prior to about October 2013, the T_EXPDATE and the T_TERMINATEDATE are the same values because the previous computer system did not store the two dates. Since that time, any mineral lease that is expiring or is ending for another reason, must go through a terminate transaction and allows the user to enter the termination date. When the T_TERMINATEDATE is less thanl the T_EXPDATE, it indicates that these leases ended prior to the original expiration date of the lease.
Detailed Citation:
Table Detail:
Section 6: Distribution
Publisher:
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
Publication Date:
05/19/2017
Contact Person Information:
Zeb Thomas,
GIS Data Systems Coordinator
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Rd
Saint Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: 651-259-5637
Email: zeb.thomas@state.mn.us
Distributor's Data Set Identifier:
plan_state_minleases.gdb
Ordering Instructions:
Please visit the download page for this dataset on the Minnesota Geospatial Commons website using the web link below (Online Linkage). Online Linkage: I AGREE
to the notice in "Distribution Liability" above. Clicking to agree will either begin the download process, link to a service, or provide more instructions. See "Ordering Instructions" above for details.
Section 7: Metadata Reference
Metadata Date:
05/19/2017
Contact Person Information:
Renee Johnson,
GIS Data Contact
Minnesota DNR - Lands and Minerals
500 Lafayette Rd
Saint Paul,
MN
55155
Phone: 651-259-5396
Email: renee.johnson@state.mn.us
Metadata Standard Name:
Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines
Metadata Standard Version:
1.2
