Major BC coal deal forseen

With Japan

VICTORIA (UPC) -
British Columbia may now
be only “months away” from
Signing a major coal deal
with Japan that would trigger
massive development of the
province’s north-east coal
fields, Industry Minister Don
Phillips said Monday.

“One of the major
problems we have to
overcome. however, is the
transportation end of the
deal,” he said.

“The competition from
Austriaha, the United

States, China and Russia is
severe,” he said. “Austraha
coal fields are only one-sixth
of the distance from Japan
that the B.C. fields are - and
Japan buys 60 million tons of
coal a year from Australia,
compared with about 12
million tons from B.C.”

Phillips said he had just
completed a_ series of
meetings with Japanese steel
industry representatives, the
B.C. Railway board of
directors and executives of
the Canadian National
Railway

“The coal deal with Japan
bow looks more positive that
it has in the last three years,”
he said. “After four years of
frustrating negotiation, it
now looks as though B.C.
may be months away from
signing the deal.”

The contract would clear
the way for the development
of the coal-fields in the
north-eastern area of the
province and a major
upgrading of the rail line
system, Phillips said.

This would also provide
better shippimg facilities for

grain, lumber, potash and
other products of western
Canada.

“The export of a tiny
fraction of our huge
metallurgical coal reserves
will bring back to Canada
hundreds of milhons of
dollars in foreign currency to
help our balance of payment
problems,” he said.

“When we build a steel
mill in B.C., it will be en-
sured of an abundant supply
of metallurgical coal,
because the mines will be in
production and the infra-
structure in place.”

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