sentences:  Royalties are paid on minerals extracted from state land (as specified by state law) and private land (as negotiated with the mineral owner).Much of the gold mined in the western US is extracted from federal land, for which the federal government collects no royalty.However, a 2009 report by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) characterizes state taxes on mineral production as "functional royalties," in that they take a share of mineral production, including gold production, for the public benefit.