Efforts to get the Wolverine Mine back on its feet remain positive, say documents filed this week with the B.C. Supreme Court.

To that end, the Yukon Zinc Corp. was in court today seeking a further extension of protection against creditors to Aug. 31, with the support of the court-appointed monitor, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

In a sworn statement, company CEO Jing You Lu says he expects Yukon Zinc will be in a position by Aug. 31 to present a restructuring plan with a new party or with its parent company.

In its report to the court today, PricewaterhouseCoopers says the Chinese parent company, JDC Group, or another party “should be in a position to make a decision on a commitment to fund a restructuring by the end of July 2015.

If that commitment is made, (Yukon Zinc) would then be in a position to formulate and disseminate a plan to creditors shortly thereafter (i.e. mid-August 2015.)”

To support the application for an extension, PricewaterhouseCoopers says it is now able to provide the court with details of the offers received to invest in the mine, or buy it.

The monitor has requested that those details remained sealed from access by the general public.

“If a sealing order is granted, the monitor is agreeable to unsealing this report once a transaction or a related party restructuring is completed,” says the report by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

“To do so before the solicitation process is completed may prejudice the available alternatives and the overall value achieved.”

Yukon Zinc suspended production at its Wolverine Mine on Jan. 21, citing financial issues.

It sought and received court protection against creditors in March, at which time PricewaterhouseCoopers was appointed by the court to monitor the affairs of the company and assist with plans to restructure or sell the mine.

The company owes $647 million, of which $595 million is owed to its parent company.

Of the remaining amount, more than 40 Yukon companies are owed more than $4 million, ranging from $272 for building supplies to $2.2 million for fuel.

In its first three years of operation since going into commercial production in 2011, the Wolverine Mine lost well in excess of $50 million each year, say court documents.

In its initial reports to the court, however, the monitor indicated the mine does have substantial value.

Yukon Zinc is also facing charges under the Yukon’s Quartz Mining Act for failing to comply with the condition in its mining licence to continue pumping water from the underground while it was in temporary closure, to ensure the integrity of the mine remains intact.

The matter was in territorial court again this week, but was again adjourned pending a resolution to the creditor protection proceedings.

Court documents also indicate the Yukon government is growing more concerned with the $3-million shortfall in Yukon Zinc’s reclamation bond.

The company has posted over $7 million, but should be up over $10 million at this point in the operation, according to the government.

In its report today, PricewaterhouseCoopers was seeking approval of $90,000 from funds available to Yukon Zinc for bonuses for the 11 employees who continue working at the mine site to provide care and maintenance.

The bonuses are justified as an incentive for the employees who bring valuable experience to the job and often are called upon to do the work of more than one employee, says the monitor’s report.

It says replacing them, particularly at a remote and isolation mine site, would be difficult.

The report also notes three Yukon Zinc employees at the Vancouver head office have been terminated to save money.

PricewaterhouseCoopers reported today that since the last report to the court on June 12, a $5.3-million payment to Yukon Zinc turned up unexpectedly in a San Francisco bank as the result of concentrate that had previously been delivered to a Chinese company.

As a result, Yukon Zinc will not have to draw down any more funds from an interim $8-million loan it had arranged to see it through the creditor protection process and maintain care and maintenance at the mine site.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was also seeking permission today to begin a process to detail exactly how much is owed by contacting each creditor to confirm the outstanding amount.

Knowing exactly how much is outstanding is a necessary piece of information to allow for the restructuring or sale to proceed, says the monitor’s report.