Rigorous and dry legal provisions scrolled across the screen.
The America. land ownership system completely separates surface rights from underground mining rights.
During the gold rush more than a century ago, many private lands' underground mineral development rights were either forcibly retained by the federal government or bought out at low prices by early mining giants.
The Su Wei possessed absolute rights to use the surface of this territory.
However, if the original land purchase contract did not explicitly include mining rights, then every ounce of gold discovered underground would be legally irrelevant to him.
Even though this priceless quartz vein was buried directly beneath his ammunition depot.
If the news leaks out and attracts the attention of shrewd mining tycoons, their legal teams can legally apply for mining permits and even forcibly requisition parts of the land's surface facilities.
Three million US dollars in savings isn't even enough to cover the litigation costs of those companies valued at tens of billions of dollars.
The original terms of the land purchase contract must be verified.
Su Wei opened the computer's local encrypted folder.
A PDF file titled " Emerald Lake Territory Real Estate Transfer Agreement - Final Archive Version" was dragged to the center of the desktop and double-clicked to open.
This document was signed when he purchased the land; it totals forty-five pages.
Swipe the touchpad to quickly scroll down the page.
Page 5, coordinates of the surface boundary survey.
Page 6, Limits on the use of natural water sources and the Pilan Creek.
Page 7.
Su Wei's fingers paused. Article 7, Paragraph 3, Supplementary Explanation of Additional Rights.
The densely packed 8-point font is crammed into a narrow paragraph.
[Regarding the subsurface rights of parcel AK-KOD-0042: The transferor declares a waiver of any claim to any non-radioactive sediments extending 50 feet below the surface. Furthermore, the development of deep resources within the bedrock layer is subject to the area exemption provisions of the Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA), and this transfer agreement does not impose secondary constraints on this exemption...]
These obscure legal terms, when combined, are fraught with pitfalls.
The seller waived its claim to the area within 50 feet, but this only refers to sediments. The gold-rich quartz vein, however, is an igneous intrusion that is close to or even exceeds 50 feet in depth.
The most crucial part is the second half of the sentence, which involves the regional exemptions under the 1971 Indigenous Peoples Act. This complex clause makes the entire clause extremely ambiguous.
These lines can be interpreted as him possessing shallow mineral rights, or, as a lawyer could interpret them, as him having no rights at all.
Professional barriers have emerged.
Su Wei reached his left hand into the side pocket of his windbreaker and took out his phone.
The screen unlocks, and the thumb quickly swipes across the contacts list to the bottom.
A law firm in Kodiak Town that is qualified to handle mining disputes and land title confirmation.
The number was dialed.
A regular beeping sound came from the receiver.
The call was automatically transferred after three seconds.
"Hello, this is Howard and Pell Law Firm. Due to the orange alert for the polar blizzard, our firm is temporarily closed today. For urgent legal inquiries, please leave a message after the beep..."
The standard female voicemail message has finished playing.
drop.
Su Wei didn't leave a message; he simply pressed the hang-up button.
The light from the phone screen shone on the wooden table, refracting into tiny spots of light.
He sat in the pine chair, his body still, only his neck turned slightly to the left by fifteen degrees.
His gaze passed over the half-open wooden door and landed directly on the locked green tin toolbox in the storage room.
Chapter 222 The legal loopholes have been patched!
Twelve hours later.
Early morning, Emerald Lake territory.
The Raptor drove out of the territory gates and onto the 30-kilometer county road leading to Kodiak Town.
The blizzard finally subsided at 2 a. m., leaving behind devastating road conditions.
Heavy snowplows had just cleared a one-way path through more than half a meter of snow.
The snow walls piled up on both sides of the road were as high as 1.5 meters.
The road surface was devoid of asphalt color, covered instead with compacted chunks of snow and deadly black ice.
The car's speed was firmly kept at 20 kilometers per hour.
The four-wheel drive system engages frequently, causing the traction control indicator light on the dashboard to flash wildly.
[ Mechanical Repair LV3 ] passive feedback is transmitted in real time.
The hydraulic stiffness of the chassis shock absorbers in extreme cold, and the slight vibration when the drive shaft engages, all traveled through the steering wheel to Su Wei's palm.
This is an ice passage with absolutely no room for error.
If the vehicle slips, the three-ton vehicle will crash directly through the snow wall and overturn off the roadbed.
Occasionally, heavy trucks carrying supplies would drive by from the opposite direction.
When they meet, Su Wei must first shove his right wheel into the loose snow and slowly graze the snow wall to avoid it.
What should have been a journey of a little over an hour took a full three hours.
At 11:00 AM, the Raptor entered the edge of Kodiak Town.
Snow removal in the town is progressing very slowly.
In front of the shops along the street, fishermen and shop owners were using snow shovels to clear the snow blocking the entrances.
The metal shovel blade scraped across the ice, producing a harsh, screeching sound.
The car was parked on a ramp in a public parking lot.
A two-story red brick building stands on the street corner, with a faded and peeling wooden sign hanging on its exterior wall: Howard and Pell Law Firm.
Su Wei strode up the metal staircase covered in a thin layer of ice to the second floor.
At the end of the corridor was an old wooden door fitted with frosted glass.
Turn the brass doorknob and push the door open.
The old heating pipes inside the house radiated intense heat.
A strong, musty smell of paper mixed with the odor of cheap coffee hit me.
There is no reception desk in the reception area.
In the spacious office area, seven or eight green metal filing cabinets were casually piled up.
At the far end, behind a large oak desk, sat a bald man in his fifties.
He was wearing a wrinkled gray plaid shirt and half-rimmed resin glasses perched on his nose.
The desk was cluttered with files on fishing disputes, breach of contract claims, and land leases.
Greg Parsons, Kodiak Island, is a lawyer specializing in mining disputes and land title determination.
Hearing the door open, Parsons looked up from a pile of documents.
Su Wei closed the wooden door behind him.
He walked across the cardboard boxes scattered on the floor, pulled out a folding chair across the table, and sat down.
He reached into his inner pocket with his left hand and pulled out two folded A4 sheets of paper.
Place it on the table, press the edge of the paper with your fingertips, and push it forward ten centimeters.
"I encountered several unusual rock formations while constructing infrastructure in my territory."
Su Wei's voice was very calm, revealing no emotion.
"This is a copy of the original land purchase contract. I need to verify the mining rights clauses on it."
Parsons adjusted his glasses.
He didn't immediately reach for the paper on the table, but instead sized up the young man opposite him.
In the Alaska winter, only two types of people come to the law firm to request confirmation of ownership of rock strata.
One type is the exploration enthusiast who wanders around the mountains with a magnifying glass, thinking they're going to strike it rich if they find pyrite.
Another type is the speculator who actually found hard currency under the permafrost.
The man in front of me had a calm demeanor, and the taut, powerful lines of his body, visible beneath his winter coat, suggested absolute rationality.
Parsons stretched out his rough fingers and picked up the two photocopies.
The rustling sound of papers turning filled the quiet office.
A dozen seconds later, Parsons ' gaze landed on Article 7, Section 3.
"Land parcel number AK-KOD-0042. Subsurface interest, subject to the regional exemption under the 1971 Native Claims Settlement Act..."
He read the technical terms aloud one by one, then leaned back in his chair.