Timlin v. Brown

Citations

• 158 Pa. 606
• 28 A. 236
• 1893 Pa. LEXIS 1640

Syllabus

<p>Mines and ntining — Royalty—Goal lease — Sale of coal.</p> <p>Where the lessor in a coal lease sells to the lessee all of the coal in the land described in the lease, at a certain minimum royalty per year for a term of years, and both parties know of the existence of workable and marketable coal in the land, although they do not know the quantity of coal, the fact that the coal is' exhausted before the end of the term will not relieve the lessees from the payment of the minimum royalty for the years subsequent to the exhaustion of the coal,</p> <p>A coal lease provided that the lessees should have the right to mine coal for ten years, paying one half cent per bushel royalty. The lessees were to mine ten thousand bushels each year, but to have the right to mine as much more as they chose. In case they failed to mine ten thousand bushels each year, they agreed to pay a royalty on ten thousand bushels. The lessees mined coal for seven years, when the coal seam ran down to less than one foot in thickness, and they ceased operations. Held,</p> <p>(1) that the contract was the sale of the coal, and not a mere license to mine; and (2) that the lessees were liable for the minimum royalty until the expiration of the ten years.</p> <p>Redelivery in workmanlike condition — Damages.</p> <p>In the above case it was provided that the lessees should give up the mine at the end of the term “in a good, workmanlike condition.” The lessees, when they began work, put up a small derrick to raise the coal from the bottom of the shaft; this method was continued for two years, when it was abandoned, and a slope was adopted. The shaft was of no further use except as an air shaft. The defendants removed the derrick. Held, that the derrick in no way affected the “workmanlike condition” of the mine, and that the lessees were not liable in damages for its removal.</p>