The Australian company interested in buying the Wolverine Mine is not interested currently in continuing the mining operation there, says the managing director.

Jeremy Read spoke to the Star Wednesday afternoon by telephone from Sydney, Australia.

He said MinQuest wants to use the mill and other assets at the Wolverine Mine to support its plan to mine the Fyre Lake deposit 28 kilometres away.

Even with the need to build a 40-kilometre haul road to move the ore from Fyre Lake to the mill, using the existing Wolverine Mine as the base of operations still makes financial sense, Read said.

The managing director said it’s their understanding there is not a lot of ore left to mine at Wolverine, perhaps a couple of years’ worth.

“At this stage, our assessment is focused very much on how we could use the infrastructure to fast-track the Fyre Lake project,” he said.

The financially-strapped Yukon Zinc Corp. and its Wolverine Mine are currently under court protection from creditors.

The company and the court-appointed monitor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, are attempting to sell the assets or arrange additional financing to restructure.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has indicated in several reports to the B.C. Supreme Court the Wolverine Mine has substantial value.

It has provided the court with sealed copies of bids received so far, according to court documents.

The court monitor recommended the bids remain for the court’s eyes only to protect the integrity of the bidding process. It also reported it could be in a position to go public with a final offer by mid-August.

The file was in court today with a couple of major creditors, including P.S. Sidhu Trucking, arguing complex legal matters arising out of a previous court ruling on the file.

Yukon Zinc owes $647 million, of which $595 million is owed to its Chinese parent company.

More than 40 Yukon companies are owed $4.2 million.

The MinQuest executive said he could not discuss what his junior mining company would be offering, whether it would be enough to settle the outstanding debts dollar-for-dollar, or something less that would see creditors take a loss.

Those discussions are confidential, he said, adding he was meeting in Sydney on Wednesday with potential investors.

The publicly traded company did indicate in a written notification that it has submitted a non-binding bid for the Wolverine Mine. MinQuest indicated the bid would remain conditional while it attempts to secure the financing by Aug. 10.

The company also indicated purchasing the Wolverine Mine assets would save MinQuest between $150 million and $200 million in startup costs for the Fyre Lake project.

Read explained the environmental liabilities and reclamation obligations it would inherit with the purchase of the Wolverine Mine do not present any obstacles or deterrents.

MinQuest has stated publicly that it expects in addition to what it is prepared to pay for Wolverine, it will need between $50 million and $60 million more to bring Fyre Lake into production, which includes the $12-million haul road.

Read said the Australian company has a net worth of approximately $4 million.

It has been interested in the Yukon for some time and in the last year has been looking at specific deposits in the territory, he pointed out.

Read said the copper, lead and zinc deposits here are a perfect fit for a junior company because of their style and size.

They’re not so large that you would have to bring in a major mining company with deep pockets just to get past a feasibility study that could run a couple hundred million dollars alone, he said.

Read said the company has met with the Kaska and recognizes its obligation to work in partnership with the Kaska.

MinQuest has a joint-venture arrangement on the Fyre Lake property with Pacific Ridge Exploration.

It has also entered into a joint-venture arrangement with Golden Predator Mining for the Marg project northeast of Keno City.

The Wolverine Mine has been in a care and maintenance mode since last Jan. 25, when Yukon Zinc halted production because of financial constraints.