Cape Breton’s Donkin coal mine up for sale by U.S.-based owner

Advertisement

Advertise with us

HALIFAX - An idle Cape Breton underground coal mine that has been plagued by rockfalls is up for sale.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Monthly Digital Subscription

$0 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Monthly Digital Subscription

$4.75/week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

No thanks

*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.

HALIFAX – An idle Cape Breton underground coal mine that has been plagued by rockfalls is up for sale.

Nova Scotia-based Morien Resources Corp. receives a royalty from the Donkin mine, and says the mine’s owner has announced it intends to explore a sale of its 100 per cent ownership in the operation.

Attempts to reach mine owner Kameron Colliers ULC were unsuccessful, but U.S.-based Perella Weinberg Partners confirmed in an email that it is leading the sale on behalf of the owner’s parent company The Cline Group.

Workers repair the road leading to the Donkin coal mine in Donkin, N.S., on Monday Dec. 13, 2004. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
Workers repair the road leading to the Donkin coal mine in Donkin, N.S., on Monday Dec. 13, 2004. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Morien owns a production royalty on coal sales from the mine that is binding and will continue if there is a change in ownership.

The Nova Scotia company says it’s unclear whether a successful sale will result in the mine restarting operations.

Nova Scotia’s government suspended operations at the mine in 2023 after two roof rockfalls, and allowed them to resume in March 2024 following a review by a third-party consultant.

The mine, which remains idle, first opened in 2017 and was described by the province as the world’s only operating subsea coal mine.

It resumed operations in September 2022 after it was shuttered in March 2020 amid slumping coal prices and roof collapses that led to repeated stop-work orders.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2025.

Report Error Submit a Tip

Business

LOAD MORE