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Financing Deal for Hood Canal Pit-to-Pier Project Falls Through
By Christopher Dunagan January 10, 2010 in Kitsap Sun


POULSBO ~
A Canadian company and the Hill family of North Kitsap have broken off a relationship that could have brought $3 million to a pit-to-pier gravel project proposed in Jefferson County.

Athabasca Minerals Inc. of Edmonton, Alberta, and Thorndyke Resource of Poulsbo never completed the terms of an agreement, which would have given Athabasca a 25 percent ownership in the pit-to-pier project.

Alex Hill, owner of Thorndyke Resource, said he has received “considerable investment interest” in the project.

After further considering their (Athabasca’s) proposal, we have chosen another funding alternative more beneficial to the Thorndyke Resource project,” Hill said.

No information about other potential investors was released.

Shaun Parsons, vice president of development with Athabasca, said he was pushing to finalize the deal, but his board of directors wanted more information. When he inquired with Thorndyke Resource (which Parsons calls T- ROC), he learned that time had run out and the company was going another direction.

The pit-to-pier project is designed to extract sand and gravel deposits near Shine, transport the material by conveyor belt and load it onto ships and barges in Hood Canal. A proposed pier would be more than 900 feet long.

Hill said the project would bring more than 4,000 jobs to the region through mining, construction, maritime and shipping trades.

Numerous environmental groups have gone on record against the project, saying it would damage the Hood Canal ecosystem.

Company officials say they will address those concerns as part of the environmental review, expected to be completed within two years. One of the key benefits, they say, would be to eliminate thousands of truck-with-trailer trips from crowded roads throughout the region.

Thorndyke Resource is owned and controlled by Alex Hill, a grandson of the founder of Fred Hill Materials. Fred Hill Materials, also based in Poulsbo, is a separate company owned by Alex Hill and another grandson, Adam Hill. Read full article >>