Hodgdon v. Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Co.

Citations

• 246 Pa. 494
• 92 A. 752
• 1914 Pa. LEXIS 543

Syllabus

<p>Mines and mining — Goal lease — Construction—Deficiencies in yearly output — Royalties—Rental for surface occupied — Statute of limitations.</p> <p>1. Where a coal lease provides for the payment of a flat rental-for a stipulated number of-tons of coal to be mined in any one year, and for making up deficiencies in the number of tons mined in any one year, within six years after such deficiencies occur a construction of the terms of the lease which would ignore the limitation of six years, during which such deficiencies may be made up, is not to be adopted if the language used can fairly be given another construction.</p> <p>2. A coal lease which grants the right to mine 80,000 tons of coal annually at a rental of $20,000, payable quarterly and which provides that “If......lessee......shall pay said.....-.rent in any one year......and during that year less than 80,000 tons of coal be mined and removed, the said (lessee) may in any subsequent year within six years thereafter, during the continuance of this lease, mine and remove sufficient coal to make up the deficiency” discloses the intention of the parties that in each year subsequent to a year in which less than 80,000 tons have been mined, 80,000 tons must first be mined, before any excess of tons mined during such subsequent year can be applied to making up the deficiencies.</p> <p>3. A provision in such lease that the lessee will “pay at the time of payment of the quarterly installments at the rate of twenty-five cents per ton for all coal mined during the three months preceding the time fixed for such payment over and above 20,000 tons” requires that the interest on royalties due for coal mined in excess of the 20,000 tons and not applied to making up past deficiencies be computed from the end of each quarter when such royalties fell due.</p> <p>4. Where such lease provided that the lessee should “pay an annual rental of $10.00 per acre for all surface occupied and used in the mining operation on the said pr