2006 Minnesota Statutes

298.48 MINERAL RIGHTS; EXPLORATION DATA; FILING REQUIREMENTS;
PENALTIES.
    Subdivision 1. Annual filing. By April 1 each year, every owner or lessee of mineral rights
who, in respect thereto, has engaged in any exploration for or mining of taconite, semitaconite, or
iron-sulphide shall file with the commissioner of revenue all data of the following kinds in the
possession or under the control of the owner or lessee which was acquired during the preceding
calendar year:
(a) Maps and other records indicating the location, character and extent of exploration
for taconite, semitaconite, or iron-sulphides;
(b) Logs, notes and other records indicating the nature of minerals encountered during
the course of exploration;
(c) The results of any analyses of metallurgical tests or samples taken in connection with
exploration;
(d) The ultimate pit layout and the supporting cross sections; and
(e) Any other data which the commissioner of revenue may determine to be relevant to the
determination of the location, nature, extent, quality or quantity of unmined ores of said minerals.
The commissioner of revenue may compel submission of the data. The court administrator of any
court of record, upon demand of the commissioner, shall issue a subpoena for the production of
any data before the commissioner. Disobedience of subpoenas issued under this section shall be
punished by the district court of the district in which the subpoena is issued as for a contempt
of the district court.
    Subd. 2. Use of data. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the commissioner
of revenue may use any data filed pursuant to subdivision 1 and any similar data otherwise
obtained to the extent and in the manner the commissioner deems necessary to project the future
availability, value, and utilization of the metallic mineral resources of this state. In making
such projections the commissioner of revenue may consult with, and provide data as deemed
appropriate to, the commissioner of natural resources.
    Subd. 3. Penalties. Any owner or lessee of mineral rights who fails, neglects or refuses to
make any filing required by this section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
    Subd. 4. Confidential nature of information. The data filed pursuant to subdivision 1 shall
be considered confidential for three years from the date it is filed with the commissioner. Nothing
herein contained shall be construed to prohibit the commissioner from disclosing information or
publishing statistics so classified as not to disclose the identity of particular data.
Notwithstanding the other provisions of this subdivision, the commissioner may furnish
any information supplied under this section to the commissioner of natural resources, the
commissioner of employment and economic development, or a county assessor. Any person
violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
History: 1977 c 423 art 10 s 29; 1978 c 767 s 36; 1981 c 356 s 193; 1983 c 289 s 115
subd 1; 1986 c 444; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 82; 1987 c 312 art 1 s 26 subd 2; 1992 c 464 art 1 s
56; 1998 c 389 art 10 s 21; 1Sp2003 c 4 s 1