Despite rumours, Peace River Coal is not going to be re-opening any time soon, at least, not under the auspices of Anglo American.
We recently received this note here at the paper from the “Manager for Corporate Communications for Anglo American.”
The note reads: “Anglo American has carried out a strategic review of the Peace River Coal Steelmaking Coal assets, which have been in care and maintenance since 2014, to understand their future fit within the Company’s Steelmaking Coal portfolio.
“The review has mapped out what we believe to be a high value project for the assets, but it is not at a sufficiently large scale to warrant investment as part of Anglo American’s global portfolio of Tier 1 mining assets. We believe the Peace River Coal steelmaking coal tenures are of a high quality, but are more likely to be allocated the capital required for investment under different ownership. We have therefore decided to commence a process for the sale of Peace River Coal.
“We are engaging closely with local and provincial stakeholders to understand their views to ensure the divestment process supports a sustainable future for these assets and those communities that neighbour them.”
Whether this means the company is actively engaged in the process of selling the property or if they just want people to know that the mine is for sale, we do not know. We’re laying bets on the former, but don’t expect to hear anything for at least a few months at the soonest.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
