Pocahontas Mining Ltd. Liability Co. v. Jewell Ridge Coal Corp.

SENIOR JUSTICE STEPHENSON

delivered the opinion of the Court.

In these consolidated appeals from the same judgment, we determine whether the trial court erred in interpreting a provision of a lease.

I

Pocahontas Mining Limited Liability Company, formerly Pocahontas Mining Company Limited Partnership, L.L.P. (Pocahontas), filed a declaratory judgment proceeding against its lessee, Jewell Ridge Coal Corporation (Jewell Ridge), seeking to have the trial court declare the meaning of the following lease provision:

Upon final termination of this lease, whether on October 31, 2001, prior exhaustion of…