Norken Corp. v. McGahan

OPINION

BURKE, Justice.

This dispute is between Norken Corporation, the current owner of three parcels of land in North Kenai Borough, and Mazie M. McGahan, the original grantor of those parcels. Although both parties agree that McGahan owns the gravel deposits on the parcels by virtue of deed reservations, they vigorously dispute the scope of that ownership. After protracted legal wrangling and a lengthy bench trial, the superior court held that the intent of the deed reservations was that McGahan retain mining rights to a portion of one parcel, but only royalty rights to the gravel underlying…