Donkin coal mine deal could be sealed in weeks, officials say

Officials with the Cline Group say a deal to buy the Donkin mine in Cape Breton should be sealed by the end of the year.

Company officials met with community representatives for the first time on Friday to discuss the deal.

The Cline Group representatives, however, refused an interview after the meeting.

Cape Breton Coun. Kevin Saccary said the company representatives had some questions about the community.

"They were just concerned about what are the people saying, is there a lot of people that are looking for employment, that sort of stuff,” Saccary said.

“It was just general community questions."

Hugh Kennedy, the chairperson of the community liaison committee for the mine project, said they also shared some information about the company.

Barring any unforeseen issue, they should be coming back into town to say that they own the mine.- Hugh Kennedy

"They have solid markets basically all over the world. They operate out of the United States, not far from us in Illinois,” he said.

“And they're used to dealing with high-sulfur coal, which we have. So that's all good for us because they're not unfamiliar with the product."

Kennedy said the plan is to follow the environmental approval already in place.

The company is still looking at moving the coal by barge.

And the project would still employ about 300 people.

Kennedy said there were no details as to when the mine might open, but he said he's feeling confident the company wants to move ahead.

"Barring any unforeseen issue, they should be coming back into town to say that they own the mine,” he said

Kennedy said they suggested that would happen within the next few weeks.

The reopening of the Donkin mine has been in the works for nearly a decade, since the Nova Scotia government granted permission to get the site ready for coal production.

The tunnels in Donkin were dug in the 1980s by Devco, a former federal Crown corporation, but the project was abandoned before the mine opened because of a drop in coal prices.

Coal has been mined in the Donkin region since the early 1860s.