Coal is King again for Ridley

Ridley Terminals is looking forward to a pretty busy and prosperous couple of years with the Wolverine Mine project now coming on line.

Coal from that North East BC mine will be arriving in Rupert in September for shipment, beginning a relationship that should bode well for the increasingly in demand terminal.

The Daily News had full details on the project and its impact for Prince Rupert in its Wednesday edition.

RIDLEY LOOKS SET FOR ITS BEST YEAR EVER
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Page One

Western Canada Coal has started up its Wolverine Mine and signed a long-term contract with Ridley Terminals that will increase the amount of coal moving through the facility by 20 per cent in the coming year.

“Start-up is proceeding well and the plant is processing hard coking coal,” said John Hogg chief operating officer of Western.

“Our operations staff and contractors have done a great job bringing the project into production on time, on budget, and with an excellent safety record.”

More than 300 people are currently active on the site at the Wolverine Mine. The mine is expected to produce 1.35 million of tonnes of hard coking coal in the company’s fiscal year ending March 31, 2007, and in excess of 2.5 million tones in the next fiscal year. Western will be loading the first train of Wolverine hard coking coal next month, followed by the first shipment from Ridley Terminals in September of 2006.

The port services agreement with Ridley Terminals is for an initial term of 10 years, expiring in March 2015. The agreement provides Western with the option to extend the contract for two additional five year terms.

The new agreement puts Ridley Terminals well on its way to exceeding its best historical year ever in terms of tonnage – seven million tonnes.

Western Canadian’s production alone is anticipated in the future to use up to 11 million tones of the terminals 24 million-tonne capacity.

“This is the second mine Western has brought into production on time and on budget in 20 months, said Gary Livingstone, president and CEO. “It is a credit to the outstanding performance of our management team and dedicated employees.”

Coal coming from the northeastern part of the province and moving offshore through Ridley Terminals is on the rebound following a downturn three years ago, when the Bullmoose coal mine closed, ending to decades of coal mining in the region. Two years before, the larger Quintette Coal Mine closed.

The result was the end of coal shipments through Ridley Terminals for about a year, while the company tried to expand into other areas.

Western Canadian Coal was the first company to start shipping PCI coal through the terminal again at the beginning of 2005, following the opening of its Dillon mine.

Livingstone said coking coal prices can range from about $102 to $116 per tonne, depending on the quality.

He added that longer-term forecasts predict prices will remain higher than $100 per tonne, “and at those prices, producers like us will do very well.”

Livingstone said Western Canadian rushed to get the Wolverine Mine, its core asset, into production to take advantage of solid prices and its employees did a good job of getting it on line on time and on budget.

He added that estimates are that world steel production will increase by six to seven per cent during the next couple of years, which should continue to support the demand for coal.

With files from CanWest News service.