WARM SPRINGS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY v. WJ McAULAY

OPINION

By the Court,

Gunderson, J.:

Warm Springs Development Company here appeals from a judgment declaring the express terms of a mineral lease enforceable, urging that an implied covenant should be read into the lease, to contradict its explicit provisions. We disagree.

On November 18, 1962, Henry Houck entered into a heat, fluid, and mineral lease with respondent, W. J. McAulay, for 80 acres in Humboldt County. The lease was for twenty years (until November 18, 1982), but provided for termination if McAulay failed either to drill a well by October 18, 1963, or to pay nominal rents to defer…