I made my thoughts on the potential re-opening of the Donkin Mine pretty clear in last week’s Fast & Curious but I feel the need to return to the topic, thanks to a Cape Breton Post story under the headline:
Coal’s last chance: It may be now or never for Cape Breton’s last underground coal mine
In author David Jala’s defense, reporters don’t usually write their own headlines, and the coal enthusiast who wrote this one clearly hadn’t even read the story, which isn’t actually a paean to Cape Breton’s coal industry of yore.
Chris Cline, “coal miner’s coal miner.”
Don’t get me wrong, I have my problems with Jala’s piece—for the life of me, I don’t know why he turned to Shannon School of Business Dean George Karaphillis for comment. Karaphillis’ contribution includes noting that the price of coal is high before offering the opinion that Chris Cline, the owner of the Donkin Mine (and a bunch of other things) who died in a helicopter accident in 2019, was “a coal miner’s coal miner – he worshipped coal.”
Cline was a mine owner, what he worshipped was money, in pursuit of which he bashed unions and piled up safety warnings, both of which are ways of putting actual coal miners in danger.
“Billionaire’s billionaire,” I’ll accept, “coal baron’s coal baron,” sure, but “coal miner’s coal miner?” Give me a break.
Mouthpieces
Jala’s actual article considers the problems with both Donkin coal (high sulphur content) and the Donkin Mine (rockfalls) before adding a nugget of new information to the story:
While word of the Donkin mine’s possible re-opening quickly spread, there is no hard evidence of any plans to re-activate the idle mine.
In a statement released late last week, Morien Resource[s] Corp., which once held a 25 per cent stake in the Donkin mine and maintains a royalty interest in the project, described the mine as being on “care and maintenance” since operations ceased in March 2020.
“To restart production, certain regulatory approvals are required from the Nova Scotia government. Kameron has not notified Morien of its intent to restart production, nor has it disclosed a development strategy or timeline for the mine.”
Michael MacDonald of the Canadian Press reported on June 16 that Kameron Collieries, the Cline Group subsidiary that operates Donkin, had yet to apply to the Environment Department to renew its industrial approval permit, which expires in December.
Instead of applying for permits or notifying royalty holders, Kameron is apparently reaching out to politicians like CBRM District 8 Councilor James Edwards who, as reported by the CBC, first broke the news of the potential re-opening during a meeting of Donkin’s community liaison committee in early June. Edwards later told the Canadian Press:
It’s great news for the area. The primary consideration, of course, is safety, regardless of the price of coal on the world markets.
Kameron has also, apparently, been in touch with Provincial Labour Minister Jill Balser who told CP her department “has been in contact with the company” but “did not provide details.”
Oh, except for this one:
“Safety is a top priority,” she said Thursday after a cabinet meeting. “We would have to review their operational plan to make sure it’s in compliance with our regulations and safety laws.”
Kameron itself is coyly not commenting on the potential re-opening, probably because it hasn’t yet worked out a plausible explanation for the sudden improvement in the “adverse geologic conditions” it blamed for the mine’s March 2020 closure.
But why say anything when you can get local politicians to do the talking for you?
