Smith v. Freeport Kaolin Co.

ORDER

OWENS, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the court on the parties’ cross motions for partial summary judgment. The focus of this dispute is a mining lease originally executed in September of 1945 between landowner Mr. I.B. Stinson, predecessor in interest of plaintiff Helen Stinson Smith, and Owen and Shepherd, an entity composed of two individuals, Mr. S.R. Owen and Mr. C.M. Shepherd. Defendant Freeport Kaolin Company, and subsequently defendant Engelhard Corporation, eventually acquired the mining rights described in the lease, and both corporations have conducted mining operations on…