claim to unpaid wages...Claims for unpaid wages totalled $100,000-plus
Formeremployees of the bankrupt United Keno Hill Mines Ltd. have lost theirattempt to claim unpaid wages by filing a lien against two mineralclaims in the Elsa area.
Former employees of the bankrupt United Keno Hill Mines Ltd. havelost their attempt to claim unpaid wages by filing a lien against twomineral claims in the Elsa area.
Alexco Resources obtained the claims in question last spring.
The company filed a motion with Yukon Supreme Court last Fridayindicating the outstanding liens were blocking the company’s ability tofinalize a major financing deal.
On Tuesday afternoon, Whitehorse lawyer Grant Macdonald pointed outto Justice Ron Veale that the liens were directed at United Keno Hillas a means of collecting the unpaid wages.
Macdonald, however, noted the three former employees filed the lienson Dec. 1, 2000 against two mineral claims that hadn’t been in thepossession of United Keno Hill since 1983.
Furthermore, he said, the three lien holders failed to file thenecessary evidence as to support their claims, as required by theMiner’s Lien Act.
Macdonald acknowledged it was somewhat out of the ordinary toproceed with the cause without the lien holders present, but noted thatunder the circumstances, rules of the court do allow for theseinstances.
The liens were filed by Robert Andison, Yvonne Bessette and Lloyd Melnychuk.
The three long-time employees of the company have maintained theyremained faithful to their United Keno employer even when the companywas on its last legs, in the throes of bankruptcy.
None of the three lien holders could be reached for comment thismorning, though their claims for unpaid wages were for well in excessof $100,000.
The records show the bankrupt company left between $12 million and $15 million in bad debt at the time of its demise.
United Keno had sold the two mineral claims in question to theCanada Tungsten Corp. in 1983. The Tungsten Corp. sold them toSpringmount Operating Co. in 1987, and Alexco picked up the claims fromSpringmount last April.
Earlier this month, Alexco announced a major $50-million financingarrangement to advance its plan to bring the Bellekeno mine back intoproduction in 2010.
In the court documents, the company indicated “the release anddischarge of the respondents’ liens is a condition to the advance of asignificant portion of the financing.”
In his Oct. 2 address to the Opportunities North ‘08 conference inWhitehorse, Alexco president Clynton Nauman told participants hiscompany estimates
it can mine silver at Bellekeno for under $2 US an ounce. Silver was trading this morning at $10.01 an ounce.
The former silver mines and associated properties in the Elsa and KenoCity area were declared abandoned by the federal government in 2001.
Left to the care of the Canadian taxpayer, there were court-approved attempts to unload the assets, though none were successful.
Companies that showed an interest continually rejected the conditionthat with the purchase, they would assume responsibility for theenvironmental liabilities from a century of mining.
It wasn’t until Ottawa agreed to sever the environmental liabilities from the deal that Alexco pursued the purchase.
The purchase agreement does commit Alexco to some reclamationobligations, though taxpayers are still paying the cost of babysittingthe past environmental liabilities at a cost of $1.7 million for thisfiscal year alone.
In addition to the care and maintenance expense, Ottawa budgetedanother $1.3 million this year to conduct studies and other activitiesaimed at developing a plan to deal with those liabilities on apermanent basis.