Offer to buy Jeffrey asbestos assets approved

Montreal Gazette November 1, 2010

A Canadian-led investor group confirmed Monday its offer to buy 100 per cent of privately held Jeffrey Inc. and its asbestos mining assets near Danville, Que. All Jeffrey shareholders, including the miners' co-operative, have approved its offer.
The closing is due by year-end and work on converting the existing open-pit mine to an underground operation can then start.
The group, including investors from India, a major market for Canadian asbestos, will finance the underground project to produce 225,000 short tons of chrysotile fibre annually. It undertakes to protect workers' health and to sell only to qualified customers. The project will secure 500 jobs.
The new investors will not be involved in the day-to-day running of the new mine, said Jeffry Inc.'s main shareholder Bernard Coulombe. The identities of the investors were not disclosed.
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