Twelve arrested at Mt. Klappan mine as workers move in equipment

Washington (Platts)--19Sep2005

Twelve people who were blocking an access road to a mine in northwest British
Columbia  were "peacefully" arrested Friday and removed from the area,
according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

RCMP spokesman John Ward confirmed the arrests and said access to the road
leading to Fortune Minerals Ltd.'s Mount Klappan mine northeast of Prince
Rupert, B.C., was restored. But he could not confirm that the 12 were member
of the Tahltan First Nation.

The company was to begin moving equipment including drills onto the property
Friday, but individual members of the Tahltan tribe had been blocking the
access road into the mine near Dease Lake since August. 

"We have the support of the First Nation [tribe's central council] but there's
a dissident group causing us some grief," Fortune President and CEO Robin Goad
told Platts Coal Trader Friday.

The company, which bought the property from ConocoPhillips in 2002, expects to
produce between 1.5-mil and 3-mil metric tons/year of ultra-low volatility
pulverized coal injection material at the mine for export.

Goad said the group of protestors is led by an aboriginal family who is making
a claim on the area. The company got a court injunction against the 20 or so
members of the 6,000-member Tahltan tribe to prevent them from blocking the
road and stopping work.

Terri Brown, a spokeswoman for the dissident group, has accused the band's
chief of signing a deal with Fortune without consulting his people.

She said the group, which has been camping at the site, is defending their
land. The tract is estimated to hold 2-bil tons of anthracite.

In an affidavit filed in support of Fortune's injunction application, Garry
Merkel, chair of the Tahltan Nation Development Corp., said that if the
blockade continues, 60 jobs could be lost, along with a U.S. $1.3-mil (CAN
$1.5-mil) contract.

The protesters say the Tahltan development corporation signed an agreement
with Fortune without consulting the community. Members of the development
corporation are from the main families of the reserve and are appointed rather
than elected.

Goad said a fully-bankable feasibility study by Marston Canada Ltd. on the
mine has just been completed and is to be delivered to Fortune this week. He
said the results will be available in a few weeks after company executives
have time to review the report.

For more information, take a trial to Platts Coal Trader at
http://www.coaltrader.platts.com.

Please visit: www.platts.com

Their coverage of energy matters is extensive!!.