Fight over dinosaur fossils comes down to what’s a mineral

Associated Press ^ | November 16, 2018 | Amy Beth Hanson

[Responsibility2nd]

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[Red Badger]

A bone of contention?....................

[outofsalt]

Well, at least they aren’t vegetable.

[dp0622]

lol

Maybe some day some odd creatures will be fighting over my fossil :)

(that just leaves me open to all kinds of jokes)

[ClearCase_guy]

[NonValueAdded]

It’s neither animal or vegetable. Next question.

[dangus]

I’m afraid that like the ruling that declared tomatoes to be vegetables, you have to look to the intent of the law. Yes, the dinosaur bones are COMPOSED of minerals, but no, their value is not the value of the MINERALS, but of their form.

[SES1066]

Said Bones to the Captain; “They’re dead, Jim”

Still it does bring a smile to my face, being familiar with the US West and the separability of mineral rights from surface rights. I recall an apocryphal story that had an easterner buy a small 10 acre piece to retire on. Wakes one morning to a knock and a request for some ‘people’ to come on the lot. Asking why, the reply is oil, he gets excited and asks what is it worth to me? Sad reply, we pay you for access to the property, the mineral rights aren’t yours and so sorry, no dollar$.

[blueunicorn6]

Two old fossils were fighting in Montana?

I thought Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters didn’t like flyover country.

[Reily]

Those guys are amateurs! Here are the real pros!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Wars

[a fool in paradise]

Animal, vegetable, or mineral?

[PIF]

Be fair, split it in half length wise.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks a fool in paradise and fieldmarshaldj.

[Salamander]

Too late to add anything more than that.

:D

[21twelve]

Beats me. But they’re both bigger than a breadbox.

[a fool in paradise]

brings up the question, could someone quarry all of the surface mass from your property down say 50 feet and leave you with nothing but a deep hole in the ground?

“people wanted your limestone, dirt, etc...”

[dangus]

I’d be wary of a bad contract, but I think the point is that the mineral extraction can’t deprive you of the use of the property

[bert]

Au contraire mi Amigo ( a little frog mex lingo there)........ without question, the fossils are animal.

The calcium rich bones mineralized over time to become rock.

That being the fact of the matter, mineral rights apply to the ownership