MANITOBA - Toronto-based GLENCAIRN GOLD has settled a tax dispute between a subsidiary company (BLACK HAWK MINING) and the TOWN OF LYNN LAKE, Man., that dates back to 1998.
The town had claimed, based on provincial assessments, that Black Hawk owed approximately $6 million in tax arrears and penalties for the period 1997 through 2000 and the town had seized certain equipment from Black Hawk to recover that amount. Black Hawk, the provincial municipal assessor and the town have now agreed that payment of $825,129 will settle all municipal taxes, arrears and penalties for the period 1997 through 2003.
The dispute related to the Keystone gold mine, which produced 292,200 oz of gold from 1993 to 1999. When Black Hawk acquired an interest in the mine in 1993, it understood that the terms of an agreement with the Province of Manitoba stipulated that Black Hawk could make grants to the town in lieu of taxes. However, in 1998 the town advised Black Hawk that the agreement was terminated and that Black Hawk owed outstanding taxes, a position upheld by the court in 2003.
Subsequent to this settlement, Glencairn has put the entire Keystone project and other properties in Manitoba up for sale. The Keystone project consists of the former Keystone gold mine, the 1,300-tonne/day carbon-in-pulp Lynn mill, an inventory of advanced and grassroots gold and base metal exploration properties covering over 21 km along the Lynn Lake greenstone belt and an extensive exploration database that dates back over 50 years. Other properties in Manitoba include the MacLellan mine, a former underground gold mine that operated between 1986 and 1989 under previous owners.
As a result of the settlement, all liens on Black Hawk's heavy equipment fleet have been removed. Glencairn plans to deploy some of the equipment to its operations in Central America. The company operates the Limon mine in Nicaragua and is developing the Bellavista mine in Costa Rica. To find out more about Glencairn, visit www.GlencairnGold.com.
Comments