Kittie West Burns and Emma Searcy Burns Lennox v. The Louisiana Land & Exploration Co. And McMoran Production Co.

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:

This case presents a question of construction of a mineral lease. We hold that, under this lease, the defendants’ reworking operations performed on a dry hole did result in an extension of the lease.

I

Kittie West Burns and Emma Searcy Burns Lennox own undivided interests in a piece of real estate in Texas that they inherited from their mother. On May 31, 1976, this property was leased to Jake Ha-mon for a five-year term. In 1978, the operators of the Hamon lease, including McMoran Production Company, drilled a deep test well in search of natural gas. Their efforts…