It was over before it actually happened.
Canadian mining exploration company, Beaufield Resources, has pulled out of a deal with HudBay Minerals to purchase the idled Balmat zinc mine and fired its president and CEO.

Beaufield's Board of Directors blamed its decision to withdraw from the purchase of the St. Lawrence Zinc mines "due to the current financial and market conditions for resource companies."

In addition, President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Weston, who was working on the Balmat mine deal, was terminated.

The announcement was made on the company's website.

In February, Montreal-based Beaufield Resources signed an exclusivity agreement and non-binding letter of intent to acquire the Balmat mining operation for $12 million Canadian.

The zinc mine has been idle since August 2008.

The closure put nearly 200 workers out of a job.


http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Deal-F ... 30651.html

Any idea why the men were fired?

I believe the price of Zinc fell and it was no longer profitable to operate the mine. This mine has been open and closed many times in the past 20 years. I think the mine today consists of a skeleton crew that does basic rehab of the mine and operates the pumps to keep it dry. Other than that, there isn't much going on there... For anyone not following, the mine was being purchased to resume mining. But obviously this deal has fell through and it is uncertain when or if operations will ever resume.

Miner Greg

I meant why the President and Vice president of the company were fired.