(1) (a) The state board of land commissioners is authorized to establish, under the jurisdiction of the director of the state board of land commissioners, a mineral section and appoint a minerals director with experience in mineral resources production, management, development, or reclamation. It is the duty of the minerals director or such director's designee or contractor to inspect all works operated under leases from the state for the production of mineral resources upon which rentals are due to the state upon a basis of a royalty upon the production therefrom, as often from time to time as the minerals director shall deem it necessary for the purpose of estimating and checking royalties therefrom, and keep such maps or other information of the workings of all such operations as will give the minerals section full information concerning the same. (b) In the event the minerals director utilizes a contractor to conduct such investigation, the compensation to such contractor shall not be based on the number or amount of audit findings referred to the director for action. (2) Lessees of all mineral resources lands shall be required to furnish the minerals director with copies or blueprints of all maps of underground surveys of leased land, made or authorized by such lessee, including engineer's field notes, certified to by the engineer who made the survey. The minerals director or such director's designee or contractor shall review activities related to mineral resources leases. The minerals director shall also check the royalties reported as due under such lease for the preceding month and compare the same with the surveys and other inspections made by the minerals director and shall report the result of such examination and checking to the director of the state board of land commissioners. Every mine and oil and gas operation and other works upon the lands managed by the state board of land commissioners held under lease therefrom by any person, association, partnership, or corporation shall be at all times subject to the inspection of the minerals director or such director's designee or contractor. The minerals director or the director's designee or contractor shall inspect and examine all lands held under lease from the state, providing for the payment of royalties from the production therefrom, and report to the director of the state board of land commissioners the condition of said lands and the amount of work and development done thereon by such lessees and make such recommendations relative thereto as the minerals director may deem advisable. The minerals director or such director's designee or contractor shall upon ten days notice have access during normal business hours to records and books necessary to determine the royalty due from the production and disposition of all substances produced from state trust lands, which record or book is in the possession or under the control of the lessee or the lessee's assign. If after reasonable effort the minerals director or such director's designee or contractor is unable to obtain sufficient information from the lessee or assign to determine the royalty due, the director or designee or contractor may petition the state board of land commissioners for an order which upon notice and hearing shall grant access to information, records, and books pertaining to royalties that are in the possession or under the control of any entity that purchases, distributes, processes, or transports the substance produced from the state trust land. Except as is necessary to determine and report to the board royalties due to the board, all information acquired by the director or director's designee or contractor under this subsection (2) shall be protected as confidential information and shall not be a matter of public record in the absence of a written release from the entity from which the information was obtained or until otherwise ordered by a court.
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