Ellis v. Beech Creek Coal Co.

EDWARD P. HILL, Jr., Judge.

On June 10, 1957, appellants T. H. Ellis and M. J. Brown, a partnership doing business as Ellis and Brown Coal Company, entered into a coal lease with the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company. Appellants began mining the coal on the leased property by the underground mining method, but on January 4, 1961, it was discovered that the appellee and Kirkpatrick’s Beech Coal Mining Company had previously mined the coal under a portion of the leased premises in the early 1920’s. Appellants had no knowledge that the coal had been previously mined at the time they entered into…