Sherritt International Corp. is shutting down its refinery in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., after running out of feed inventory supplied by its Moa mine in Cuba. The company said operations will remain paused until mining and processing at Moa resume and the pipeline supplying the refinery is rebuilt.

Work at Sherritt’s Moa joint venture in Cuba was paused earlier this year as the country faced fuel shortages. Those shortages followed the United States cutting off access to oil from Venezuela in January. Sherritt has not provided a date for restarting the mine or refinery in the source information.

The refinery closure comes as the company is in discussions with lenders. Sherritt said it could not repay all or a material portion of its debt if creditors accelerate repayment, making it due before the stated maturity date. Its ability to refinance or extend the debt under current circumstances remains uncertain.

Sherritt has also signed a non-binding agreement with Gillon Capital LLC, a family office of a former Trump administration adviser, that would let Gillon acquire a majority stake in the company. The Canadian miner said a preliminary private placement deal would give Gillon a warrant to buy enough shares to reach a 55 per cent stake. The source does not identify the former adviser or provide a timeline for the proposed transaction.

Based on reporting by Global News.