Curragh records quarterly profit

Improved second-quarter earnings based partially on higher zinc prices and a lower Canadian dollar were reported by Curragh (TSE).

The Toronto-based company, which mines zinc and lead in the Yukon, recorded net income of $5.2 million (16 cents per share) for the three months ended June 30, compared with a loss of $16.4 million (51 cents per share) for the same period last year.

For the first half of 1992, the company had a loss of $500,000 (1 cents per share) compared with a loss of $24.7 million (77 cents per share) for the same period in 1991.

Last month, Curragh, owner of the Westray coal mine in Nova Scotia, said the Bank of Nova Scotia demanded repayment by December of about $95 million in outstanding loans connected with the mine.

The federal government has guaranteed $80.75 million of that, while Curragh owed $14.25 million. The Nova Scotia government contributed a $12-million loan to the project.

Curragh said it has paid off the $14.25 million not guaranteed by Ottawa. It said it still has almost $60 million in cash and temporary investments. Curragh said it expects key permits for its Stronsay project in British Columbia to be given in the next few months while discussions with prospective partners continue.

Curragh has also unwound its cross-shareholdings with Asturiana de Zinc of northern Spain, a move the company said helped its bottom line. The Westray mine was the site of a methane explosion in May in which 26 miners died. A provincial inquiry into the Westray disaster is scheduled to begin hearings in September. It has a mandate to look into the financial arrangements that led to the mine’s opening.

Meanwhile, dozens of Westray miners in full work gear turned out for a news conference at Stellarton, N.S., to release a petition calling for the reopening of the Westray coal mine.

The 6,000-name petition, begun by Westray employees, also asks the Nova Scotia government to allow Westray to operate a strip mine in Stellarton. A representative of the group that organized the petition said that miners want the last 11 bodies brought out (15 bodies were recovered before the search was called off) before any return to work at the Pictou Cty. mine. — From news wire sources