Opinion ID: 1154750
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Failure to Surrender the Leases.

Text: Any breach of contract or implied covenant for failure to surrender the leases occurred in 1968 at the end of the first run. National contemporaneously notified the plaintiffs of the shut-down, but they failed to demand surrender of the leases. Being aware of the shut-down, the plaintiffs had the option of immediately demanding surrender or filing suit based upon this factor within six years after the 1968 shut-down. The plaintiffs claim that the true facts surrounding the nonsurrender were not communicated to them, but in fact, they were informed of the mounting losses after 1968. The gravamen of the plaintiffs' lawsuit was to recover royalties that should have resulted from a profitable mining operation. Yet the plaintiffs were aware of the escalating debt from the financial reports from 1968 to 1976, and still they waited until 1982 to file their lawsuit premised upon lost profits due to the nonsurrender of the leases in 1968. This is a classic example of sitting on one's rights.