B.C. buys coal licences to resolve aboriginal dispute – Resource Clips

May 5, 2015

In an effort to placate a native band, Fortune Minerals TSX:FT and POSCO Canada have sold their British Columbia coal licences to BC Rail, a provincially owned railway company without a railway. Announced May 5, the $18.3-million sale of 61 claims totalling 16,411 hectares in northwestern B.C. contains a 10-year buy-back option should the Tahltan First Nation agree to development of the Arctos anthracite project.

Calling the deal a good outcome in the current market, Fortune president/CEO Robin Goad said the joint venture “invested significant funds” to try to resolve the band’s concerns. “Mining is a cyclical industry and, considering the weak metallurgical coal prices at the present time, it was considered prudent to step back from Arctos and focus our efforts on our near-term production assets.”

A PwC report on B.C. mining, also released May 5, noted that steelmaking coal now trades around $100 per tonne, “a considerable drop from its record price around $330 in 2011.” The report quotes Don Lindsay of Teck Resources TSX:TCK.A and TCK.B saying prices can’t recover without further production cuts around the world.

Read More: http://resourceclips.com/2015/05/05/b-c-buys-coal-licences-to-resolve-aboriginal-dispute/