Filed By Filing Services Canada Inc. 403-717-3898



SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549


FORM 6-K


REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934



Dated September 18, 2003

 

Fording Canadian Coal Trust
(Translation of Registrant’s Name Into English)

 

Suite 1000, 205-9th Avenue SE

  Calgary, Alberta Canada  T2G 0R4

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)


(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)


Form 20-F ______

Form 40-F ___X___



(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)


Yes ______

No  __X__


(If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-________.


This report furnished on Form 6-K shall be incorporated by reference into each of the Registration Statements under the Securities Act of 1933 of the registrant.


 



SIGNATURES


Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.



FORDING CANADIAN COAL TRUST


September 18, 2003

            By: _s/James F. Jones                    

 

     James F. Jones

     Corporate Secretary








Exhibit Index



The following is a list of Exhibits included as part of this Report on Form 6-K.


Description of Exhibit

Number


Press Release entitled “Fording Announces Third Quarter Cash Distribution”

 

                                                                                                            Exhibit                   99







 


News Release

 


                                    Suite 1000, 205 Ninth Ave. S.E.
                                    Calgary, Alberta  T2G 0R4
                                    Website: www.fording.ca


For Immediate Release



FORDING ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER

CASH DISTRIBUTION


CALGARY, September 18, 2003 – Fording Canadian Coal Trust (TSX: FDG.UN, NYSE: FDG) today announced that its third quarter cash distribution of $1.00 per unit will be paid on October 15, 2003 to unitholders of record on September 30, 2003. The ex-distribution date is September 26, 2003. This distribution is in respect of the period from July 1, 2003 until September 30, 2003.


Fording Canadian Coal Trust is an open-ended investment trust. Through investments in metallurgical coal and industrial minerals mining and processing operations, the Trust makes quarterly cash distributions to unitholders. The Trust, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fording Inc., holds a 65% ownership of the Elk Valley Coal Corporation and is the world’s largest producer of the industrial mineral wollastonite. The Elk Valley Coal Corporation, comprised of Canada’s senior metallurgical coal mining properties, is the world’s second largest exporter of metallurgical coal, capable of supplying approximately 25 million tonnes of high-quality coal products annually to the international steel industry.


 

 

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For further information contact:


Mark Gow, CA

Director, Investor Relations

Fording Canadian Coal Trust

403-260-9834

mark_gow@fording.ca