A delay in the sale of the Canada Fluorspar mine in St. Lawrence has triggered more layoffs and again left the operation in limbo.
The sale was to be approved by the court yesterday, but the successful bidder missed a payment deadline, a key condition.
That will result in the loss of 21 jobs this week, on top of more than 200 layoffs when Canada Fluorspar went into receivership earlier this year.
Court-appointed monitor Phil Clarke, with Grant Thornton, says there are still numerous other bids for the operation.
But he also cautioned against reading too much into the latest developments.
Clarke says not closing a sale is not positive, but also not unheard of during insolvency proceeding, adding all parties will regroup, reassess and move forward in a way that’s in the best interests of all stakeholders.
Instead of approving the sale, the court granted an extension until the end of February to close or pursue another option.
The people of St. Lawrence are “deeply disappointed” to hear that the latest attempt to keep the local fluorspar mine up and running has fallen through. The town says they were not kept in the loop with the process.
Area MHA Paul Pike agrees the news is disappointing.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Industry Energy, and Technology says government still has faith in the viability of the project.
Andrew Parsons says he has had to deal with a lot of volatility in the industry since becoming minister.
He states that government does believe there is a future with the project, and while the delay is disappointing such deals take time.
Parsons says he cannot provide assurance that there will be a buyer, but what he can do is assure that they’ve done all they can to keep people employed. As well, Parsons doubles down on his confidence that the Canada Fluorspar Mine is a viable project.