A Yukon Supreme Court justice has awarded a $135,000 judgment to an Alberta company.

Justice Suzanne Duncan awarded A1 Cats, also known as 365334 Alberta Ltd., with $114,428.66 in rentals costs and $20,900 in costs for parts. The award is related to the rental of two rock trucks to Pishon Gold Resources Inc.

Duncan also dismissed a counterclaim from Pishon. She issued her written decision on June 14.

The action stems from a contract dispute between the two companies. Pishon paid A1 for the use of two 1995 Caterpillar D400 rock trucks for the 2017 mining season. A1 rents and sells such equipment.

Pishon owns multiple placer mine claims close to Mount Nansen.

Duncan outlined that A1 had an agreement that Pishon would be buying the two trucks. The vehicles were supposed to be paid for in either gold or cash by the end of 2017.

On Oct. 31, 2017, Pishon decided it was no longer interested in purchasing the rock trucks as they were “not in a good state of repair.”

Pishon has not made any payments to A1, which is claiming damages that equal the truck rental costs. The rental dates from Aug. 3 to Oct. 31, 2017.

The trucks were valued at $350,000 when they were new. Each truck was valued to be $110,000 in 2014.

Each vehicle had been operated for around 14,000 hours and had gone through some refurbishment before July 2017.

The same month, William McKay, of Okanagan Contractor Services, contacted A1 about buying the trucks. Okanagan had an agreement with Pishon.

A1 agreed to the sale, and the vehicles were picked up sometime between June 25 and July 6, 2017.

Okanagan was invoiced $150,000 for each truck plus $1,000 for a spare rim.

An Okanagan employee, who is also a part-time mechanic, looked over the trucks and found some issue.

McKay contacted A1 to inform the company that the problems were so severe that the sale could not go through. A1 asked for the trucks to be returned, as they would no longer be for sale.

Okanagan and Pishon argued that the sale hinged on the trucks being in good repair. A1 said this was not the case, and that Okanagan and Pishon accepted the trucks in their current state.

Duncan identified several issues she needed to address to render a decision.

The first was to determine if there had been a breach of contract. She said there was no evidence in emails shared between the two companies that August, that the state of repair was an issue.

“In fact, the email exchanges indicate the opposite,” Duncan said in the decision.

She said Pishon wanted the sale to go through, and even wanted an invoice. She added that there was no correspondence about the vehicle’s issues until October 2017.

She explained that the mining season had ended, and A1 could do nothing about it. She added it’s unfair for Pishon to complain about the state of the vehicles when they were used for the mining season.

She ruled that Pishon breached the contract when it did not pay for the use of the trucks.

The next issue was determining damages.

A1 claimed the cost of the trucks between Aug. 3, 2017 and Oct. 31, 2017 – $18,000 per month.

Duncan determined that while the agreement started as a sale, it became a rental when Pishon and Okanagan decided not to purchase the vehicles.

She felt that A1 is owed reimbursement from Pishon.

“I find that PGRI (Pishon) did have the use of the trucks from Aug. 3 to Oct. 31, 2017, that their condition did not preclude their use, and that monies as a result are owed to A1 Cats,” Duncan said in the decision.

After reviewing invoices, she determined that repairs were done sometime between July and August. A1 paid for these repairs.

She had no concrete evidence about the vehicles’ condition after Aug. 3, 2017. She explained that she did have oral testimony but it was “general and unsubstantiated.”

The next issue centred on whether A1 was owed compensation for parts.

A1 claimed several items, including a compressor, steel line, seal kits, parts book, service manual, U-joint section and iron welding rods. Pishon claims it had no knowledge of these items.

Duncan said this is not a viable defence. She pointed out that there is little distinction between Pishon and Okanagan. Both companies argued they had decision-making power.

She decided that A1 had loaned these parts to both parties, and they were not returned.

The last issue was deciding a counter claim from Pishon. Duncan pointed out that her previous rulings made it so she does not have to decide this issue.

That said, she dismissed the claim and provided reasons.

She did not feel Pishon was owed for repairs from A1, as this was covered by Okanagan.

She added that A1 was not properly notified about additional problems. She explained that had the company been kept in the loop, it could have helped.

Pishon claimed a loss of production based on the trucks’ condition. In 2017 the company said it mined 650 ounces of gold, which resulted in a $120,000 loss for the season.

Duncan said there was no evidence to show how 2017 compared to the yearly average.

“Placer mining is a complex activity with many variables, starting with the presence of minerals in the claims,” the justice said in the decision.

“In the absence of evidence about the variables affecting PGRI’s placer mining claims, I cannot find that any loss of production is attributable to the trucks.”

Pishon claimed $18,000 for a drive shaft replacement. Duncan determined that A1 was not responsible.

She found that A1 offered a replacement, but Pishon refused the offer. This means it cannot claim damages, she said.

She ordered that Pishon pay A1 the $114,428.66 in rental costs, the $20,900 for parts and pre-and post-judgment interest.

She added that legal costs could be addressed in the future if needed.