Which right grants a landowner the ability to extract minerals from their land?

The correct answer is that mineral rights grant a landowner the ability to extract minerals from their land. Mineral rights are specifically legal rights that allow the owner to access and extract the natural resources, such as minerals, oil, or gas, found below the surface of their land. These rights can be bought, sold, or leased independent of the land itself, highlighting their importance in property law and real estate transactions.

Riparian rights, on the other hand, pertain to the aspect of water rights, allowing landowners whose property is adjacent to a body of water to make reasonable use of that water. Littoral rights are also related to water but specifically refer to properties abutting large bodies of water such as lakes and oceans, giving landowners the right to access the water and use it in ways consistent with public policy. The right of first refusal is a contractual right that allows an individual the opportunity to purchase a property before the owner sells it to someone else, but this is unrelated to mineral extraction. Therefore, mineral rights is the term that accurately reflects the right to extract minerals from the land.