![Talks Continue After Mine Shuttered in Dispute](http://townsquare.media/site/101/files/2019/07/Coal-Train-on-Walker-Hill-Courtesy-BNSF-Railway.jpg?w=630&h=420&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89&w=980&q=75)
Talks Continue After Mine Shuttered in Dispute
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Negotiations are due to resume Friday in a legal dispute between Montana regulators and a Navajo Nation-owned company that prompted the closure of one of the largest coal mines in the U.S.
State officials said they were optimistic on reaching a deal with the Navajo Transitional Energy Company.
The company took over the 275-worker Spring Creek Mine near the Montana-Wyoming border this week after acquiring it in a bankruptcy sale.
The company shut down the mine Thursday when state officials said they wouldn't approve operations unless the company waives its immunity as a sovereign tribal entity.
Waiving immunity would allow the company to be sued over future environmental violations or mine reclamation costs.
Company representatives say they won't agree to a full waiver of their treaty rights.
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