Studied some documents today and what I came up with is this! Mineral rights are explained like common corpse math, meaning, it all seems backwards. Its the language and, anyone can go to the court house and look through the books and read for themselves. It really helps if you know some history of the property and names of the surrounding neighbors and the exact location you are searching for otherwise, you will spend much extra time looking and reading things that don’t really pertain to your oil, gas, mineral and underlying material rights. The wording is most natural like this! “Except” that’s a big word… Except for the one half or the 5/8’s or the 1/3rd meaning the rest is granted if it is not previously “spoken for” on the WD Warranty Deeds or the MD Mineral Deeds before the initial “EXCEPT” therefore like I said common corpse math, So if the seller says: Except for the 1/2 of the oil, gas, & minerals this means you own the other half! If it says Except for 1/3 of " " you own the other 2/3rds its really that simple. yet confusing. One must go back to the beginning and look, if on the warranty deeds as it passed through various owners hands if there were any “Exceptions” Otherwise you can decipher exactly how much you own. Take photos of all the pages you want to re-study when you get home and if you want it firmed up, hire a lawyer or a mineral professional.