§ 74-32 — Liability for damage for trespass

If any owner or person in possession of any mine or mining claim shall enter upon, either on the surface or underground, any mine or mining claim, the property of another, and shall mine or carry away any valuable mineral therefrom, he shall be liable to the owner of the mine so trespassed upon for double the value of all such mineral mined or carried away and for all other damages; and the value of the mineral mined or carried away shall be presumed to be the amount of the gross value ascertained by an average assay of the excavated material or vein or ledge from which it was taken. If such trespass is wrongfully and willfully made, punitive damages may be allowed. (1913, c. 51, s. 1; C.S., s. 6927.)