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<br />nita Placer Mining Claim No <br />No. 4569. <br />• <br />5213; and Green Placer Mining Claim <br />The parties claim varying degrees of ownership with <br />respect to the mineral rights and dispute the meaning of the <br />terms "minerals," "mining rights," "stone" and, depending upon <br />the party's point of view, assert different rights and responsi- <br />bilities. <br />The main issue between Plaintiffs and Defendant concern <br />the construction of the reservation contained in a warranty deed <br />dated May 30, 1989, conveying the subject property from Plain- <br />tiffs to Fedrick. Fedrick was simply the conduit for a land <br />trade between Plaintiffs and the real buyers, Wits. With respect <br />to the patented placer mining claims, the following exception was <br />noted: <br />"Except all minerals in or under said mining <br />claims including, but not limited to, metals, <br />oil, gas, coal, stone, mineral rights and <br />mining rights." <br />Plaintiffs claims that they reserved the sand and gravel rights <br />as a result of that reservation in the warrant deed (Plaintiff's <br />Exhibit 10) whereas Defendant claims the rights to the sand and <br />gravel were not reserved by Plaintiffs and that Defendant owns <br />the sand and gravel rights. Based upon this assertion of owner- <br />ship, Defendant has entered into a sand and gravel lease with the <br />Defendant/Intervenors, West End Sand and Gravel, Inc. Plaintiffs <br />sued Defendant for injunctive relief to prohibit Defendant and <br />Defendant/Intervenors from conducting a sand and gravel operation <br />upon the mining claims, for damages and for declaratory judgment <br />seeking to have Plaintiffs declared the owner of the sand and <br />gravel rights pursuant to the exception and reservation contained <br />in Plaintiff's Exhibit 10. <br />The central dispute between the Plaintiff/Intervenors, <br />Marion E. Shaw and The Bernice P. Houser Trust and Defendant <br />involves Shaw's claim that [he sand and gravel operation conduct- <br />ed by Wes[ End Sand and Gravel, through its agreement with <br />Defendant, is depleting the minerals, particular gold and silver, <br />in violation of Shaw's ownership interest in the mineral rights. <br />Marion Shaw owns 50% of the mineral rights on the five patented <br />placer mining claims and The Bernice P. Houser Trust owns 25%. <br />Shaw asserts a value of approximately 526,000 per 400 tons of <br />head ore and has sued Defendant for trespass, damages, injunctive <br />relief to prohibit the sand and gravel operation and for declara- <br />tory judgment. The Defendant does not claim [o own any mineral <br />interest in the mining claims but asserts the quantity of pre- <br />cious metals, including gold and silver, are so de minimis that <br />there is no commercial value to any mineral interests of Shaw. <br />Defendant/Intervenors essentially say the same thing and that, in <br />2 <br />