Mineral Leasing Act Law and Legal Definition
The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 is a U.S federal statute. The Act authorizes the leasing of public lands for developing deposits of coal, petroleum, natural gas, and other hydrocarbons.
The Act provides that the party paying the highest bonus has the right to produce federally owned petroleum for a period of ten years. The right to secure is decided by conducting competitive bidding.
The Act permits the U.S to reserve all helium extracted from natural gas.
The Act provides the following functions:
1. the Act enables to enter the public lands to explore minerals with permission from the government;
2. the Act enables to drill and extract minerals with an authority granted by the government;
3. the Act enables the government to manage the exploitation of leasable minerals; and
4. the Act enables the government to receive compensation from the lessee for the privilege of extracting minerals from the federal public lands.
