Substances not classified as commercial minerals are free from the controls and limitations of this chapter.A landowner has exclusive rights to the use and utilization of the fertility of his property and of the minerals providing such fertility and therefore he may alter the surface of his land and extract therefrom and sell any materials which are not or have not been classified as commercial minerals. It is recognized that extraction of commercial minerals lowers the value of property as regards its use or utilization for other purposes, and therefore the property owner must be compensated for such loss of value.Siliceous and calcareous mineral substances, sand, argillaceous, magnesian and ferruginous earth, clay and other substances of this kind which may be used for construction, agriculture, or the arts, shall be under the surveillance of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. History —Aug. 18, 1933, No. 9, p. 32, § 3; Oct. 6, 1954, No. 6, p. 48, § 1; renumbered as § 2 and amended on June 27, 1969, No. 96, p. 257, § 3; Oct. 29, 1975, No. 10, p. 766, § 3.
Puerto Rico Legal Code