Colorado Mineral Royalty Calculator: Your Decimal Interest

Step 1: Gather your three inputs

Your net mineral acres in the tract, the unit's spacing acres, and your lease royalty rate — from your deed, your lease, and the ECMC unit record.

Step 2: Compute your decimal

Decimal interest = net mineral acres ÷ unit acres × royalty rate. Use the royalty calculator to check your math.

Step 3: Account for what Colorado takes out

A graduated severance tax of 2%–5% of gross income (with a stripper-well exemption) is withheld, so your net check is below the gross your decimal implies — plus any post-production deductions your lease allows.

Step 4: Verify against your Colorado division order

The decimal on the division order must match your calculation. If it is low, the operator may have the wrong net acres, unit size, or royalty rate — reconcile it before you sign.

Step 5: Get it audited

Have the decimal and the check history verified. Valor audits Colorado royalties stub by stub as an independent mineral manager.

What is Colorado-specific about your royalty math

The decimal-interest formula does not change by state, but Colorado facts change what you actually receive. Tax: Colorado levies a graduated severance tax of 2%–5% of gross income (with a stripper-well exemption), withheld before or alongside your royalty, so your net is below the gross your decimal implies. Timing: Colorado law generally requires operators to begin paying proceeds once title is marketable in the owner's name, and to pay on a regular cycle thereafter, and like most producing states, Colorado can impose statutory interest on royalty proceeds held past the period the law allows — confirm the current Colorado rate. Unit size: the acres you divide by depend on how Colorado forms drilling units — Colorado allows statutory (forced) pooling under C.R.S. 34-60-116, so an unleased owner can be pooled into a unit — which decides whether your tract stands alone or sits inside a larger pooled unit (a bigger denominator, and a smaller decimal on more total production). Verification: spacing and production are regulated by the Energy & Carbon Management Commission (ECMC, formerly COGCC), whose records confirm the unit acres in your decimal, and your Colorado division order should state a decimal that matches net mineral acres ÷ unit acres × royalty rate. If your Colorado division-order decimal does not match your own calculation, do not sign until it is reconciled; an incorrect decimal underpays you every month it goes uncorrected.

Colorado facts at a glance

The Colorado-specific facts that shape this situation — a citable reference. General guidance as of September 2026; confirm specifics with a CPA or attorney.