https://www.miningweekly.com

Cline Mining settles with BC govt over expropriated coal properties

Cline Mining settles with BC govt over expropriated coal properties

Photo by Flathead Wild

22nd April 2014

By: Henry Lazenby

Creamer Media Deputy Editor: North America

  

Font size: - +

TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Bankrupt coal junior Cline Mining this week reached a settlement with the government of British Columbia over a 2012 civil claim alleging the government expropriated three coal properties in the south-eastern parts of the province worth more than $500-million at the time.

Cline on Monday reported that it had signed a settlement agreement in which it agreed to abandon certain coal licences as well as certain coal applications in return for the payment of $9.8-million in cash.

The British Columbia government previously paid $30-million to uranium miner NDP, after it halted a uranium mining proposal near Kelowna in 2008.

The agreement constituted a final settlement of claims Cline had outstanding against British Columbia.

The company in 2012 said the Lodgepole, Sage Creek and Cabin Creek coal properties located in the Flathead Valley of British Columbia were affected by the province's passing of the Flathead Watershed Area Conservation Act.

Cline was seeking a declaration that the rights under its coal licences and coal licence applications for the Lodgepole, Sage Creek and Cabin Creek properties were expropriated, taken or injuriously affected by the province's passing of the Act, the Flathead Watershed Area Order in council and Regulation 41/2010, which created a mineral and coal land reserve on all lands within the Flathead river watershed area.

Cline also sought compensation, including, but not limited to, the loss of the value of the licences and applications for licences for these properties, which it estimated at more than $500-million on a net-present-value basis over the expected lives of the potential mines.

The company is however, currently operating under forbearance agreements with its senior lenders, which would expire on April 30, if no other forbearance termination event took place before that time.

Proceeds from the settlement would be subject to the terms of the forbearance agreements and the underlying indentures.

SENSITIVE AREA

Several US and Canadian environmental groups are working together to lobby for protecting the Flathead permanently by creating a national park in the south-eastern third of the valley, to fill in the ‘missing piece’ of the adjacent Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The groups are also calling for a wildlife management area in the rest of the Flathead and adjoining habitat.

The Flathead Valley, tucked into British Columbia's south-east corner, is a biodiversity hotspot, providing habitat for 16 carnivorous mammals, six species of hoofed animals and the greatest density of grizzly bears in the North American interior.

Last October, Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources announced that it would spend millions of dollars to buy about 7 150 ha of land located in British Columbia's Elk Valley and Flathead River Valley for conservation purposes.

Teck said it would spend $19-million to buy these lands, that were “not amenable to mining”, from Tembec.

At the time, Teck said that it believed it was possible to have both world-class mining and a world-class environment.

The land included the Flathead town site, about 28 km south-east of Sparwood, a 3 000 ha stretch along the Alexander Creek, and another about 3 000 ha area of the Grave Prairie, north of the others.

The Canadian federal government in August announced that it would exclude portions of the Dominion Coal Blocks (DCBs) within the Flathead Valley from a planned sale of federal lands.

In 2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed to ensuring the sustained protection of the Flathead River watershed, confirming that the portions of the DCB that overlap with the watershed would not be included in the sale.

The DCBs comprise two parcels of federal Crown land known as Parcel 73 and Parcel 82, which are located in the Kootenay region of British Columbia. Parcel 73 covers an area of about 2 000 ha, and Parcel 82 covers more than 18 000 ha.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

Showroom

Booyco Electronics
Booyco Electronics

Booyco Electronics, South African pioneer of Proximity Detection Systems, offers safety solutions for underground and surface mining, quarrying,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Hanna Instruments Image
Hanna Instruments (Pty) Ltd

We supply customers with practical affordable solutions for their testing needs. Our products include benchtop, portable, in-line process control...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Photo of Martin Creamer
On-The-Air (15/03/2024)
15th March 2024 By: Martin Creamer
Gold, hydrogen, mining boost make headlines
Gold, hydrogen, mining boost make headlines
15th March 2024
Magazine round up | 15 March 2024
Magazine round up | 15 March 2024
15th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.177 0.228s - 106pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now