Colorado Revised Statutes Title 36. Natural Resources General § 36-1-125. Reservations of rights on sale

(1) All sales of state lands shall be held at the state capitol unless otherwise directed by the state board of land commissioners. The state board of land commissioners shall reserve to the state all rights to all minerals, ores, and metals of any kind and character, and all coal, asphaltum, oil, gas, or other like substances in or under such land, and all geothermal resources and the right of ingress and egress for the purpose of mining, together with enough of the surface of the same as may be necessary for the proper and convenient working of such minerals and substances.

(2) All patents and certificates of purchase on state or school lands issued before March 31, 1919, and in which a reservation of rights to minerals, ores, and metals of any kind or character whatsoever, or coal, asphaltum, oil, gas, and other like substances, or geothermal resources has been made are validated. The holders of such certificates of purchase or the owners of said lands so patented shall by contract, deed, or other agreement acknowledge or reconvey to the state the minerals and substances so reserved, and the state board of land commissioners is authorized to accept on behalf of the state such deeds and conveyances and to make such agreements as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this article.

(3) All patents and certificates of purchase issued before March 31, 1919, describing the lands with reference to legal subdivisions shown by the United States official survey, or by lots, blocks, or tracts shown on a recorded plat, or by metes and bounds descriptions, are validated.