A plan to settle the debts of the Yukon Zinc Corp. could see some businesses receive just pennies for every dollar owed.

The proposal to allow Yukon Zinc to restructure with additional financial support from its Chinese parent company was presented this morning in B.C. Supreme Court.

Under the proposal, companies owed $5,000 or less would be paid in full, and would not be given a vote on the Plan of Arrangement being presented to the court.

Those with claims over $5,000 could elect to drop their claims to $5,000, and be paid the full $5,000.

Otherwise, companies are looking at a proposal that would see them paid anywhere from four to 11.5 cents for every dollar owed, depending on a variety of conditions, according to the document prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

While many Yukon companies are owed less than $5,000 and would receive full payment under the proposal, some are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Altogether, more than 40 Yukon companies are owed a total of approximately $4.3 million, according to court documents.

The proposal indicates that on average, companies owed money will receive 15 cents on the dollar.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed by the court last March to assist Yukon Zinc with its attempt to restructure and to monitor the affairs of the company while it was under court protection from creditors.

The court-appointed monitor supports the restructuring proposal that comes with the financial support of Yukon Zinc’s parent company, Jinduicheng Canada Resources Corp.

But it is also asking the court for permission to pursue a second option just in case the restructuring falls through.

The offer from MinQuest, a publicly traded Australian company, to purchase the assets is valid, and is worth cultivating as a backup plan, says the document presented to the court.

In a recent public statement, MinQuest said it would be interested in buying the Wolverine Mine assets.

It’s not interested in continuing mining operations at Wolverine, but rather wants use of the mill and other on-site equipment and infrastructure so it could mine another property 28 kilometres to the southwest, MinQuest indicated.

An executive with MinQuest said he could not disclose what the company was prepared to pay for the assets, and how much money on the dollar creditors would receive as a result of the offer.

The court documents indicate MinQuest is still interested in finalizing an official offer even with the full understanding Yukon Zinc may be successful in its restructuring proposal.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was also asking the court this morning for permission to provide the Plan of Arrangement to creditors and to organize a vote among those companies who choose not to reduce their claims to $5,000.

The proposal also extends court protection from creditors until Oct. 15.

Yukon Zinc suspended production at its Wolverine Mine last January because of financial problems. It sought and received court protection last

March, and has been working with PricewaterhouseCoopers on a plan to resuscitate the Wolverine operation ever since.

The company owes approximately $650 million, of which just over $600 million is owed to its Chinese investors.

“The monitor estimates that the overall amount payable to the affected creditors under the plan will be approximately $4.5 million, which amount is being funded by JDC Canada,” says today’s report to the B.C. Supreme Court.

“On average, creditors will receive a 15 per cent recovery of their claim based on the estimated total claims filed of approximately $29 million.”

The proposal says Yukon Zinc, with financial support by its parent company, intends to keep the mine in a state of care and maintenance until metal prices improve.

Under the proposal, the Ross River Dena Council will be paid the full $137,000 it is owed, as the support and cooperation of the First Nation is essential for any future operations of the mine, the document points out.

The proposal says the Yukon government will be paid the full $3-million or so to bring Yukon Zinc back into compliance with the security deposit it must have posted under its Quartz Mining Licence.

Results of this morning’s court proceedings were not known as of noon today.