Hello Nathan,

You are correct that it would require an in-depth search of at least 100 years to determine mineral interest ownership.

In Georgia, the quickest (but by no means a complete) way to determine if the mineral interest is separate from the surface interest is to check with the tax commissioner. Is there another party returning taxes on the minerals? If so, you can either use this info as a starting point to actually trace the interest or, since the exam is only a limited for a refi, simply add this info as an exception.

I would also consider  adding a mineral interest exception to your boilerplate language.