Mining News: Northern Neighbors: BC pays C$18M for Arctos licenses

Fortune Minerals Ltd. and POSCO Canada Ltd. May 5 announced the completion of an agreement with the British Columbia government, under which the British Columbia Railway Company has purchased 61 contiguous coal licenses in the Klappan region of northern B.C. for C$18.31 million. These coal licenses belonged to the Arctos Anthracite Joint Venture, a partnership between Fortune and POSCO. Fortune and POSCO are selling their respective interests in the Arctos project in order to allow the province and Tahltan First Nation to continue their dialogue on a shared vision for responsible resource management in the Klappan. By maintaining the coal licenses in BC Rail, the province is preserving the value of the coal deposits. Fortune and POSCAN have the exclusive right to repurchase the licenses at the selling price should this dialogue be successful in determining that development can occur in the area under a framework of mutual respect and cooperation. The companies will each receive C$9 million in exchange for amounts already expended at Arctos and supporting the province in providing the time it needs to continue its dialogue with the Tahltan.

- Shane Lasley