North Dakota Century Code Title 38. Mining and Gas and Oil Production § 38-18.1-06. Notice of lapse of mineral interest--Method

1. The owner or owners of the surface estate in the land in or under which the mineral interest is located intending to succeed to the ownership of a mineral interest upon its lapse shall give notice of the lapse of the mineral interest by publication.

2. The publication provided for in subsection 1 must be made once each week for three weeks in the official county newspaper of the county in which the mineral interest is located; however, if the address of the mineral interest owner is shown of record or can be determined upon reasonable inquiry as defined in subsection 6, notice must also be made by mailing a copy of the notice to the owner of the mineral interest within ten days after the last publication is made.

3. The notice must state:

4. A copy of the notice and an affidavit of service of the notice must be recorded in the office of the recorder of the county in which the mineral interest is located and constitutes prima facie evidence in any legal proceedings that such notice has been given.

5. The owner or owners of the surface estate in the land in or under which the mineral interest is located who succeeds to the ownership of a mineral interest upon its lapse under this chapter is entitled to record a statement of succession in interest indicating that that owner or owners of the surface estate in the land in or under which the mineral interest is located has succeeded to the ownership of the mineral interest.

6. To constitute a reasonable inquiry as provided in subsection 2, the owner or owners of the surface estate or the owner's authorized agent must conduct a search of: