The owners behind a troubled Utah tar sands mine project agreed to a go-public deal with blank-check company Integrated Rail and Resources Acquisition Corp. (IRRX).

IRRX entered into a business combination agreement with Tar Sands Holdings II LLC (TSHII), whereby the two companies will merge and list the combined firm’s shares on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.

Tar Sands Holdings II controls real estate and natural resource development rights in Utah’s Uinta Basin, an oily basin receiving greater attention by several public U.S. producers. Tar Sands Holdings II has maintained but not operated these assets.

The company was established by Utah-based Endeavor Capital Group in 2013, the year Tar Sands Holdings II acquired the mining project from bankrupt developers “who had struggled for two decades” with the project, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

“We are excited to work with IRRX to complete this transaction and see the long-anticipated restart of business operations related to our asset base,” said TSHII owner Joe Sorenson in an Aug. 12 announcement.

IRRX was formed in 2021 by management of infrastructure companies Rio Grande Pacific Corp. and DHIP Group, according to regulatory filings.

DHIP Group is the developer of the $2.4 billion Uinta Basin Railway, a project being pursued through a public-private partnership with a coalition of eastern Utah officials. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider reviving an approval for the Uinta railroad project.

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“Today’s announcement of the Business Combination, refinery transload terminal development and operation, and commercialization marks a huge step forward towards the restart and optimization of the refinery,” said IRRX Chairman and CEO Mark Michel in an Aug. 12 announcement.

Blank-check companies, sometimes called special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, are seen as an alternative means of going public than pursuing a traditional IPO.

SPAC fundraising activity and de-SPAC business combinations reached record levels when traditional IPO activity stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, SPAC activity has fallen off a cliff in the past few years and the stock performance of many SPAC targets has disappointed, experts say.

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