COAL MOUNTAIN

The Site:
Mine Location: Coal Mountain coal mine is located 30 km southeast of Sparwood, BC.

Mine Type: Coal Mountain is an open-pit mine which produces bituminous metallurgical (coking) coal and thermal coal.

Type of Deposit: The Coal Mountain coal deposit is in the Kootenay Group, a sedimentary rock unit consisting of sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, shale and coal. Each sedimentary layer in the formation was formed in an environment similar to the present day Mississippi River delta, but occurred tens of millions of years ago in the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

After the sediments were deposited mountain building caused by plate tectonics pushed all of the sedimentary rock layers to form the Rocky Mountains. When this occurred the sedimentary rock layers were folded, faulted and sometimes folded again. The coal seams making up Coal Mountain were pinched, squeezed or even injected -much like a tube of toothpaste. This formed large concentrated 'pods' and created some of the most complex geological structures known in coal mining. Coal seams here range from 1-200 meters thick!

The Operation
The Coal Mountain deposit was discovered in the late 19th century and underground mining began in 1905. The first open pit mining occurred in the 1920's with steam shovels and large-scale open pit mining beginning in the 1940's. In more than a century of mining history, it is estimated that 40 million tonnes of coal have been mined at this site.

This mine is one of several in southeast British Columbia that is owned and operated by the Teck under its subsidiary Teck Coal. It currently produces 2.2 million tonnes of coal each year. In 2008, more than 28 million tonnes of coal reserves have been identified at Coal Mountain, which will sustain mining for 12 years at current production rates. Exploratory drilling to discover more coal reserves locally is also being done in order to extend the mine life.

Mining Process:
Mining at Coal Mountain is done through conventional open pit methods. Blasting, which is done once or twice a week using ANFO (ammonia nitrate and fuel oil) explosives placed in 31 cm diameter drill holes, creates 12 metre high benches. The benches are excavated using two large hydraulic shovels and one Caterpillar 994 front-end loader. (Each shovel scoop holds 26 cubic metres of rock!). The blasted material is loaded into 218 tonne haul trucks. The waste rock is transported to a waste rock dump.

The coal is hauled by trucks to a stockpile near the plant and then trammed by a front end loader to a grizzly (a large grate used to catch over-sized pieces). From there it is crushed and smaller rocks are removed in a large rotating drum. The coal is then conveyed to the coal wash plant. Cyclones, spirals and flotation equipment are used to clean and refine the coal product. These devices separate the coal from other sedimentary rock particles, which are waste products of the washing process. The washing plant is computerized to ensure that the coal is processed as efficiently as possible.

In order to keep production costs low, Coal Mountain and the other four nearby coal mines owned by the Teck Coal share service parts. By sharing the parts needed for maintenance and repairs, each mine is able to keep a smaller inventory of parts, and therefore spend less money keeping material in stock.

Ongoing Reclamation:
Coal Mountain is located high in the Rocky Mountains of southeast BC. The mine site was originally covered in forest and the entire area is habitat for many plants and animals that thrive in the mountains. When the mine closes the site will be returned to its original use forestry and wildlife habitat.

The two main issues that environmental staff at Coal Mountain deal with are maintaining good air and water quality. To keep the air clean, mine roads and coal piles are sprayed with water or other special chemical treatments that help keep coal and rock dust down. To be sure the water in creeks flowing through the mine site is clean, special ditches have been built all around the mine to direct runoff to large ponds where the fine sediment can settle out. Coal Mountain environmental staff regularly take air and water samples to make sure their methods are working well.

Reclamation of land disturbed by mining has been ongoing at Coal Mountain for over 25 years. This means that materials left over from mining the coal, like the sedimentary rock in the waste rock dumps, has to be re-shaped so grass or plants can grow on it and so animals can use it again in the future. In 2007 over 48,000 trees were planted at Coal Mountain. To date 134 hectares have been reclaimed out of 918 hectares of disturbed land.

Markets:
Coal Mountain coal is loaded onto 112-wagon unit trains that carry it 1,175km from the mine to Westshore Terminal at Roberts Bank near Vancouver or Neptune Terminals at the Port of Vancouver. The rail trip takes 85 hours to complete. Some coal is also shipped east by rail from the mine to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and south by rail into the central and eastern United States.

The People:
Employment: Employment: Coal Mountain employs 175 people. Of these 65 work directly in the mine, 34 work in mine maintenance, 25 work in the processing plant, and 51 work in administration or the warehouse. Most employees live in the nearby communities of Sparwood, Fernie or Crowsnest Pass. The mine provides bus transportation for employees from Sparwood and Crowsnest Pass to the minesite.

Community: The small communities of Crowsnest Pass (population 6,000), Sparwood (population 4,000) and Fernie (population 5,000) are mining communities. Many people living in them work directly or indirectly in coal mining. Logging is also an important resource industry in the region, and many other jobs are being developed in recreation and tourism. Hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, skiing, kayaking and golfing, are activities in the area that are enjoyed by the people who live there and visitors alike.

More information on Coal Mountain can be found on the Mining Technology Web site.

Information and uses of: metallurgical coal.
Information and uses of: thermal coal.

April 2009 Update