Ionno v. Glen-Gery Corp.

In the present case, we are confronted with a situation in which a lessor under a mining lease seeks to enforce a forfeiture of that lease for breach of an implied duty to reasonably develop the leased premises. The lease in question contains no time period in which mining operations are required to commence, but does provide for both a percentage of the value of the minerals secured and the annual payment to lessor of advance minimum royalties. Our first consideration must therefore be whether, under these circumstances, lessee is under the obligation to reasonably develop the land; second,…