What is excluded from the broad definition of "minerals" in West Virginia?

The correct choice in this context is the surface. In West Virginia law, "minerals" typically encompasses substances such as coal, oil, natural gas, and certain metallic and non-metallic elements found underground. However, the term does not include surface land or the surface itself, which is considered separate from subsurface minerals. The distinction arises from the concept that mineral rights pertain to resources beneath the ground rather than the land above it.

Water resources, atmospheric gases, and manmade minerals can all fall under regulatory frameworks and definitions that may include them in other legal contexts, but they do not fall within the traditional definition of "minerals" as it is applied in mineral rights and property law in West Virginia. This separate categorization emphasizes the legal and practical importance of defining what constitutes minerals independently of the surface land.