In the construction of net smelter royalty clauses in mining agreements, 'refining' bears its commonly understood mining industry meaning of the final purification stage producing a pure or nearly pure metal, and does not encompass earlier processing steps such as milling or concentrating. Evidence of industry understanding of terms used in mining agreements is relevant to their construction where the parties were participants in the industry. Where a party is required to prove that related-party charges are unreasonable (a negative proposition), and the relevant facts are peculiarly within the knowledge of the opposing party, the opposing party bears an evidential onus to adduce evidence as to the reasonableness of the charges.
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