Colorado mineral rights search: how to find who owns the minerals

Where Colorado mineral rights are recorded

Deeds, mineral deeds, leases and estate documents are recorded with the county clerk and recorder where the land lies. Search the grantor-grantee index for each owner and pull every instrument that reserves or conveys oil, gas or minerals. Write the legal description as quarter-quarter, section, township and range, because ECMC's well search uses the same terms.

The county assessor is the second stop in a Colorado mineral rights search. Colorado law requires anyone applying for surface development to send notice to mineral estate owners at least 30 days before the first public hearing, and applicants find those owners in the assessor's and clerk and recorder's records, including any request for notification an owner has filed (C.R.S. 24-65.5-103; Teller County). If your name and address aren't current there, you may not hear about plans for the land over your mineral rights.

Is my land being drilled? ECMC tools

Search your section in Facility Inquiry, then look on the map for pending locations nearby. If a pending hearing application covers your land, read it in eFiling to see what the operator proposes and when.

ECMC data shows drilling, not title, so pair it with the county records before you treat any mineral rights as yours. Most ECMC data is free to search without an account.

• COGIS Facility Inquiry: search wells and facilities by county, operator, API number, field, status or municipality, or by quarter-quarter, section, township and range.
• COGIS Production Data Inquiry: production reported for Colorado wells.
• ECMC Interactive Map: oil and gas facilities plus sites pending approval. It replaced the older map application on September 4, 2026.
• eFiling system: every hearing application and supporting document. A free account gives full access, and the Public Access Viewer works without one.

Pooling under Colorado's 2024 law

Senate Bill 24-185, effective August 7, 2024, changed statutory pooling. An applicant must own, or have the consent of owners of, more than 45% of the mineral interests in the unit and file an affidavit saying so. An unleased owner can protest that declaration at least 60 days before the first noticed hearing date.

Starting January 1, 2025, operators generally may not drill or produce from a unit that includes an unleased owner who rejected an offer to lease, unless the interests are voluntarily pooled before a pooling order is entered (Colorado General Assembly). If an operator sends you a pooling application, its title work shows you as an unleased mineral rights owner in the unit. That application is a shortcut in a Colorado mineral rights search, because the operator has already traced the chain to you.

Unclaimed royalties in Colorado

The Colorado State Treasury runs the Great Colorado Payback, the state's unclaimed property program. Search its claim search page under every past mineral rights owner, and try former names and zip codes.

Colorado mineral rights search, step by step

Start with the county, then move to ECMC.

1. Copy the quarter-quarter, section, township and range from your deed or a lease.
2. Search the county clerk and recorder's grantor-grantee index for each owner and pull every mineral deed, lease and estate document.
3. Check the county assessor's records, and make sure the county has your current address or a request for notification on file.
4. Search COGIS Facility Inquiry by your section and check production for the wells you find.
5. Look for pending sites on the ECMC Interactive Map and read any hearing application in eFiling.
6. Search the Great Colorado Payback under every family name.

When to call a landman or attorney

If you receive a pooling application or your chain runs through several estates, a landman can confirm your mineral rights and an oil and gas attorney can advise on a protest or lease offer before the deadlines. Those deadlines run from hearing dates under the 2024 law, so begin the Colorado mineral rights search as soon as a notice arrives.

Our page on selling mineral rights in Colorado covers Weld County and the Western Slope, and Colorado mineral rights value explains why approved development plans lift offers. To compare prices, ask for offers from up to three buyers who follow DJ Basin permitting.

Colorado questions