Chappel v. Foster

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Mason, J.:

Thomas Chappel had a twenty-year mining lease on a tract of coal land, which gave him the exclusive right to mine the coal for that period, paying a royalty to the owner. The lessee of a neighboring tract, extended his operations into that controlled by Chappel, and took out a considerable quantity of coal. Chappel sued William Foster, the owner of the tract on which the other mine was located. He was denied relief and appeals.

Although a lessee who. has an exclusive right to conduct mining operations is not the owner of the mineral in place…