Xstrata to pay $500 mn for Canadian coal mine

Commodities giant Xstrata said Thursday that it has agreed to buy western Canada's Sukunka coal mine from Canadian group Talisman Energy for $500 million. Located in the Peace River Coalfield of northern British Columbia, Sukunka has 236 million tonnes of coal resources. "Based on our due diligence and technical analysis, Sukunka has the potential to be a high quality metallurgical coal mine," said Xstrata coal chief executive Peter Freyberg. "Once developed, Sukunka would meaningfully increase our exposure to hard coking coal, while unlocking synergies with our neighbouring assets in the Peace River coalfield and providing additional regional scale," he added in a statement.