Reaches Agreement with Tourmaline Ahead of Hearing
Vancouver, Dec 10, 2013 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Coalspur Mines Limited ("Coalspur" or "Company") (
ASX:CPL) (TSE:CPT) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with Tourmaline Oil Corp. ("Tourmaline"), one of the remaining two parties granted intervener status by the Alberta Energy Regulator ("AER"). As a result, Tourmaline has withdrawn as an intervener in relation to Coalspur's Vista project and the portion of the AER hearing that commenced on December 9, 2013, was closed shortly after it started, without the submission of any evidence.
The agreement addresses Tourmaline's concerns in relation to those of its oil and gas development rights which overlap Coalspur's mineral development rights at Vista.
Highlights:
- Coalspur and Tourmaline Oil Corp have concluded an agreement in relation to overlapping mineral development rights involving the Vista project
- The agreement provides Coalspur with the ability to develop Vista in accordance with its current development plans
- As part of this agreement, Tourmaline has withdrawn as an intervener in the Alberta Energy Regulator's approval process
- Only one intervener, Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, remains involved in the regulatory process for Vista and negotiations to address their concerns are continuing
"The agreement with Tourmaline allows Coalspur to develop Vista in accordance with our mine development plan while also addressing concerns raised by Tourmaline. This additional agreement further demonstrates our strong engagement with all relevant parties, including First Nations who utilize the Hinton region for traditional purposes, in order to ensure support for Vista and achieve regulatory approval," said Gill Winckler, Coalspur President and CEO.
Following the withdrawal of Tourmaline as an intervener in relation to the Vista project, only one intervener remains, namely Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation ("Alexis").
"Following the two agreements with Ermineskin Cree Nation and the Whitefish (Goodfish) Lake First Nation announced by Coalspur last week, Coalspur has concluded five agreements with aboriginal communities relating to Vista. Having achieved these agreements, we are highly confident of being able to address the development issues raised by the remaining First Nation intervener, Alexis, and negotiations to this end continue. In the event that an agreement with Alexis cannot be reached, we will proceed with the AER hearing scheduled for January 13, 2014," said Gill Winckler, Coalspur President and CEO.
About Coalspur Mines Limited
Coalspur Mines Limited (ASX:CPL) (TSE:CPT) is a coal development company with approximately 55,000 hectares of coal leases located within the Hinton region of Alberta, Canada. Coalspur's flagship project is Vista, which covers approximately 10,000 hectares and provides a large scale, surface mineable, thermal coal development. Vista is located adjacent to CN Rail's main line, which is suitable for the transport of coal to deepwater ports on Canada's west coast. Coalspur has secured a port allocation agreement with Ridley Terminals Inc., which is essential to the logistics supply chain necessary to export coal from Vista to the growing demand from the Asia Pacific countries.
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