Dear editor,
Why are we continuing with this Raven mine farce?
Compliance Energy, the company behind the proposed Raven coal mine, has been pitching a doomed project since the beginning.
Quite apart from all the significant environmental concerns, the Raven project is beset with equally significant economic and business issues.
To recap: It is a marginal metallurgical coal, at best.
North American and global coal markets are in the tank. Coal mines in B.C. and the USA have been shutting down for months. Share prices of coal companies are in the basement. Compliance shares themselves have plummeted from 55 cents two years ago to a record low of 4.5 cents today.
There’s more: The purported public benefits from the project are jobs and taxes.
Yet the company is on record that it will not be paying the B.C. Mineral Tax on the coal it mines, and the mining industry is arguing that there are no qualified underground coal miners available in Canada, so it needs to import them.
Not so many jobs. Not so much in taxes.
Then, on the last day of April, mere minutes before its submission deadline, Compliance Energy filed its 2012 Annual Financial Statements. In the note to shareholders, the auditors, Deloitte LLP, had added an “Emphasis of Matter” that said, in part:
“The Company has incurred losses from inception and does not currently have any revenue generating operations. Moreover, the Company has an accumulated deficit of $6,929,000 as at December 31, 2012 and incurred an operating loss of $1,255,000 for the year ended December 31, 2012. These conditions, along with other matters as set forth in Note 1 indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that may cast significant doubt about Compliance Energy Corporation’s ability to continue as a going concern.” (Emphasis added)
An “Emphasis of Matter” statement is not a routine thing. Their use is governed by Canadian Auditing Standard 706 and other guidelines.
The public can get involved. Soon there will be a public comment period on the proposed Raven mine project.
There’s an election. Make your vote count.
Arthur Caldicott,
Saanich