Sounds like a good business idea on my end of things if I was in that area of the country.I was thinking the exact same thing.. it was not the gold miners who got rich in the Gold Rush's it was the people selling the pots and pans and other tac .. 

The city is likely to approve the lot adjustment.I think the obvious terms should be they are purchasing 1000SF for of their property for $X along with mineral, water, and air rights.

@Sue HoughSo, no matter how great the diamond is, with it still rough and me not being a diamond miner, it will be impossible to find someone to cut the diamond and sell off the pieces?

Working in the oilfield patch, doing title and mineral search, i can find my way around the courthouse and have not had a problem rooting out problems.  

Your options left are OZ's (defer) oil drilling (tax benefits + income) and land conservation easements or mineral rights donations (can be risky but they're very powerful tax advantages).

People want to give their kids the mineral interest they own but want to keep getting the royalty payments until they die.

Also an owner who might have mineral rights underneath the land they want to tap later on for additional revenue. 

Hey @Loren Miner, that was definitely a great intro.

The only time this happens if there's minerals on the land that the owner doesn't know about (for instance).  

The minerals are sold and leased already, so I do not own the minerals.