On October 5 Ridley Terminals and Peace River Coal announced a new long-term agreement that will see coal from the northeast moving through Prince Rupert.
The deal runs until December 31, 2021, with an optional five year extension. While the specific tonnage isn't being made available, Ridley Terminals chair Bud Smith notes that the volume under the new agreement will grow from what is presently being shipped and that can only be good news for Prince Rupert.
“The Anglo agreement is important to RTI because it provides predictable volumes well into the future. Predictable volumes enable us to plan for new capacity. New capacity means more jobs at Prince Rupert,” he said, adding that the benefits extend beyond the North Coast.
“Importantly this agreement also provides communities in northeastern BC with confidence to makes municipal plans knowing Anglo has made a long term commitment for capacity at RTI. Growth in shipping capacity at RTI in Prince Rupert will result in new jobs being created at northeast BC mines.”
The same day as the new long-term deal was announced, international mining giant Anglo American announced that it had completed negotiations to take 100 per cent ownership of the company in a deal valued at $166 million US. And company CEO Seamus French said they plan on growing the BC business going forward.
“We see significant resource upside and plan to invest in further exploration studies to ascertain its full long term potential. In the near term, we will be progressing a feasibility study to increase production from one Mtpa (million tonnes per annum) to 3.5 Mtpa by 2015,” he said.