Creditors want Yukon Zinc's court protection lifted
Yukon and B.C. companies have filed liens against the mine
Two trucking companies from Yukon and B.C. will ask the B.C. Supreme Court to step aside so their claims against Yukon Zinc can proceed in the Yukon Supreme Court.
The Chinese-backed mining company has been under court ordered creditor protection since closing the Wolverine Mine, north of Watson Lake, in January.
Yukon's Sidhu Trucking and B.C.-based Hy's North Transportation will ask in court on Thursday for the protection to be lifted so they can pursue liens against the company totalling almost $1.5 million.
Both companies had contracts to haul ore and other freight for the Wolverine Mine.
In court documents, Yukon Zinc argues there's no reason to lift the court protection yet. It says there should be one proceeding in which all creditors are on equal footing and which allows the company to process its claims in an orderly fashion.
The company also has until Friday to tell the B.C. Supreme Court if it intends to file a plan to deal with its creditors.
If it does not have a plan, the monitor overseeing its operations will move ahead with selling the assets.
Yukon Zinc owes more than $646 million to hundreds of creditors. Most of that debt — about $600 million — is claimed by its parent company, JinDui Cheng Canada Resource Corporation Limited, which has its head office in Vancouver.