Atrum Coal’s Canadian operations to resume as Alberta lifts mining ban; trial set for April

Atrum Coal (ASX:ATU) is still taking representatives of the Albertan government in Canada to court in April this year – but it’s also noted a lifting of the coal mining ban that has hampered it for years.

Since the early 2020s, Atrum has been caught between a coal project it operates on Alberta’s Eastern Slopes, part of the Rocky Mountains, and a push from the Albertan government to devise a new coal policy.

That multi-year process effectively left Atrum without a project, and the stock was forced to suspend its shares on the market. Materials companies need to have material to explore for, or produce, to remain on the bourse.

Understandably, the Aussie company is still keen to be heard in court.

“Atrum and its wholly owned subsidiary Elan Coal Limited commenced a claim on 14 September 2022 against the Government of Alberta for de facto expropriating Elan’s coal leases and are also seeking monetary compensation pursuant to the doctrines of private nuisance and unjust enrichment,” the company wrote in 2023.

Months ahead of an April 2025 trial, however, Alberta’s government lifted a ban on coal mining on the Eastern Slopes earlier this week.

Alberta’s coal policy has, apparently, finally been ‘modernised’ several years later.

A Ministerial Order has now dictated Atrum’s existing permits be extended to account for the length of the suspension it’s been subjected to; Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has noted the jurisdiction faces liabilities when it comes to lawsuits from coal miners. Atrum is not the only company seeking damages.

Smith told CBC Alberta is facing up to C$16B in potential payouts.

ATU last traded at 0.5cps.

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