Fortune Minerals Limited and the Tahltan Central Council (”TCC”) on behalf of the Tahltan Nation have entered into an agreement that commits the parties to the principles of cooperation and mutual respect.

Fortune Minerals is currently engaged in the Environmental Assessment (EA) process for the Mount Klappan anthracite coal project in northwestern B.C.

The agreement between Fortune Minerals and the Tahltan does not mean the Tahltan Central Council is committed to supporting the Mount Klappan project.

Rather, the agreement recognizes that the Tahltan Nation holds aboriginal title and rights in their traditional territory, which includes the location for the proposed Mount Klappan project.

In addition, the agreement does not displace the Crown’s obligations to consult and accommodate the Tahltan with respect to the Mount Klappan project and does not imply Tahltan consent for the EA process.
The two parties say they entered into this agreement in order to see an orderly and timely review of the Mount Klappan development take place.

Here are some highlights of the agreement:
- Mutual recognition of each others interests in the area;
- Effective and timely participation in the EA process;
- Open and regular dialogue and communication about each others interests and concerns.

The Mount Klappan project is located within Tahltan traditional territory and consists of 15,000 hectares of contiguous coal licenses located 150 km northeast of the port of Stewart, 330 km northeast of the port of Prince Rupert and 100 km south of the Tahltan community of Iskut.

The feasibility studies assessed annual production of 3 million tonnes of ultra-low volatile pulverized coal injection (PCI) products used in the manufacture of steel, and options to produce other coal products.
Mining would be carried out using conventional open pit methods, with the coal processed in a wash plant constructed at the site, and clean coal products trucked to the port of Stewart for export to overseas steel customers.

Patriot Coal due to announce financial results

Patriot Coal is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2008 financial results.

St. Louis-based Patriot plans to release the numbers before the stock market opens Tuesday morning.

Wall Street is expecting little from Patriot. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect, on average, a loss of 70 cents per share for the quarter and $1.35 a share for the full year.

Patriot operates mines in West Virginia and Kentucky. In January, the company announced plans to idle three West Virginia mines and eliminate 400 jobs due to high costs and weak demand for coking coal from the struggling steel industry. Weeks earlier, Patriot announced plans to close another West Virginia mine and lay off about 100 workers by mid-March.

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