Start with the regulatory filing
In Colorado, the leading indicator of acquisition opportunity is an Oil & Gas Development Plan (OGDP) filed with the ECMC (formerly COGCC). Every planned drilling operation begins with an OGDP, and every OGDP lists the interested parties — the mineral owners whose rights are about to be drilled.
Pull the most recent OGDP filings for the target county. In Weld or Adams County, that's often dozens of filings per month. Each filing identifies the drilling area in PLSS coordinates (township, range, section) and attaches a list of owners.
Resolve the drilling area to parcels
The OGDP drilling area is defined by PLSS coordinates, but acquisition targets are specific parcels within that area. Use a PLSS-to-parcel database — or the ECMC's own mapping tool — to translate the drilling description into an enumerated list of 40-acre or 160-acre parcels.
For each parcel, note the county-assigned parcel ID. This becomes the join key when pulling county records.
Pull the grantor-grantee index
Colorado counties maintain grantor-grantee indexes — searchable databases of every recorded document. In Weld County, this is the Weld County Clerk & Recorder's online index. In Adams County, it's the Adams County Clerk's office.
For each name appearing in the OGDP, search both the grantor and grantee indexes going back as far as the index allows (often to the 1970s, sometimes further). Record every conveyance that affects mineral rights in your target parcels.
Build the runsheet
Order the conveyances chronologically, starting from the oldest and working forward to the current holder. Each conveyance becomes a link in the chain. Track the fractional interest transferred in each link — a deed that conveys 1/2 of the grantor's interest doesn't convey the same thing as a deed conveying 1/2 of the total mineral estate.
Gaps in the chain — where a grantor conveys an interest they don't appear to own — indicate a missing probate, an unrecorded death, or a deed recorded in a different county. Each gap needs to be resolved before the chain is marketable.
Skip-trace the current owner
Once you've traced the chain to the current holder, skip-trace their contact information. Start with voter rolls, recent property tax records, and obituary databases (to confirm they're still living). If the target is deceased, begin an heir search using probate records in their last known county of residence.
For living targets, aim for three data points: a current physical address, a phone number, and an email. For deceased targets, identify all heirs and repeat the process for each.
Automate with mineral AI
Each of the steps above — pulling OGDP filings, resolving parcels, searching grantor-grantee indexes, building the chain, skip-tracing — can be automated. MineralScout runs the full pipeline in minutes per target, producing a ranked list of acquisition leads with attached runsheets and contact info.
The value of manual research isn't the mechanical work; it's the judgment calls — which deeds affect your target parcel, which gaps are real vs. recording errors, which heirs are worth contacting. AI handles the mechanics; humans handle the judgment.
Skip the manual work.
MineralScout automates everything in this guide — and delivers ranked acquisition leads ready to contact.
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