The marketing effort to sell the assets of the bankrupt United Keno Hill Mines Ltd. is in full swing, says an official with the court-approved receiver managing the sale.

Michael Vermette, senior vice-president of Pricewaterhousecoopers Ltd., said Friday he fully expects a bona fide purchaser will step forward, given the level of interest expressed so far.

Four hundred mini-brochures were sent around the world last Monday to outline the assets for sale and provide a basic overview of the different deadlines in the marketing strategy, as well as outline what would be expected of interested buyers.

'I think there will be interest. I absolutely think there will be interest,' Vermette said during a press briefing to unfold the basics of the marketing schedule.

'I think we have addressed the issues that would be show-stoppers for people, and we have an excellent silver price right now.'

Vermette said as a result of the flyer, three parties requested full packages last Wednesday and Thursday. That was on top of the 12 parties waiting in the wings to order a copy of the more extensive marketing document, measuring two centimetres thick.

All 15 of the full packages were sent to interested parties in North America, though Vermette expects some response from abroad once the teasers arrive in the overseas mail.

How much interest a party will show in the proposal once they receive the package is impossible to say, he said. In some cases, a request for proposals may end up at the bottom of the pile on somebody's desk down the hall, he added.

And the number of packages mailed out does not necessarily correspond with the level of genuine interest, he noted.

Vermette said in some cases, Pricewaterhousecoopers could send out 100 packages but receive nothing of substantial interest in return. In other cases, three packages could go out with three solid bites coming back.

'I know there is a fair amount of optimism this will sell.'

Vermette said his company and the federal government have not discussed what would be a minimum bid, with anything below unacceptable. Should that issue arise, it will be a matter for discussion at the point, he indicated.

Under the marketing strategy, potential buyers have until April 13 to submit their bids. Between now and then, parties will have access to indepth information, as well as the opportunity to visit the various mine sites in and around Elsa and Keno City.

Pricewaterhousecoopers has set June 14 as the target date to select a preferred purchaser, Nov. 1 as the date to have the deal before the court for approval and Nov. 15 for the initial close.

Vermette stressed the target dates are not written in stone. He noted the time between the initial close and the final close could be anywhere from six months to three years, given the buyer would have to go through the process of securing its own water licence before any production can begin. In the interim, it would need to secure its care and maintenance water licence.

Interested parties will be expected to address three primary conditions of sale, said Vermette.

First off, he explained, they'll be expected to pay the $410,000-purchase price.

Secondly, they'll be asked to make submissions on what they'd do to improve the existing water treatment system to reduce the $1.4-million annual operating cost, while they wait for the final deal to close, he said.

Thirdly, continued Vermette, parties will be asked what financial contribution they'd make toward the reclamation and cleanup of an estimated $65 million worth of environmental liabilities that have accumulated in more than half a century of mining in the area.

There are also several requirements outside the three primary conditions. An example is the requirement that the purchaser complete an environmental audit of the property as a condition of sale, at the company's expense.

The buyer will also be expected to develop a reclamation plan for pre-existing environmental liabilities and future liabilities created if and when the mines go back into operation.

Potential buyers are also being asked to provide a profile of their company demonstrating experience and capability. They are also being asked to outline how they'd work with the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun to provide business and employment opportunities for its members.

United Keno Hill Mines Ltd. fell into financial despair in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A mainstay in the Yukon's economy for decades, United Keno shut down in 16 years ago this month amid slumping silver prices.

The mine sites, however, were maintained up until January 2001. That's when the federal government declared the properties abandoned and stepped in to take over responsibility of the care and maintenance of the water treatment systems, at a monthly cost of $100,000-plus.

The court eventually handed the assets to a number of local businesses that were authorized to sell the mine if they could. The local creditors were successful in inking two court-approved agreements to sell the mine for $3.6 million. The deal fell through in both cases.

And, in both cases, the federal government's refusal to let the buyers off the hook for pre-existing liabilities was cited as a major stumbling block, if not the stumbling block. Pricewaterhousecoopers was then recruited by Ottawa to act as interim receiver to prepare and execute a marketing strategy.

Shortly after the international firm took over, it declared before the court that the federal government had agreed to release the future buyer from any responsibility for existing environmental liabilities that accumulated over the decades up until 1989.

The company also asked the court to approve the provision that would cut out all creditors from any piece of the pie, but for the federal government and the $410,000 needed to pay off three Ontario firms that were first in line as creditors, even before Ottawa.

It was argued that no matter what the mine would sell for, its assets, including know silver reserves, would not fetch anything close to the estimated $65 million in environmental liability that Ottawa remains on the hook for. That being the case, the court was told, the federal government should get all proceeds of sale and local creditors nothing, because they'd get nothing in any case.

But while Ottawa has agreed to indemnify the purchaser from existing environmental liabilities, it has built into the bid process the condition that the buyer state just how much money they'd contribute toward reclamation.