ELKVIEW

The Site:
Mine Location: Elkview is located in the Elk Valley, 15 km from Sparwood, BC.

Mine Type: Elkview is an open-pit coal mine that mines metallurgical (coking) coal.

Type of Deposit: The coal deposits are in the Jurassic-Cretaceous Kootenay Group, a sedimentary rock unit made up of sandstone, siltstone and shale. (These rocks began as loose sediments deposited in river deltas more than 60 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed in the area!) They contain 14 mineable coal seams that are 2-15 metres thick. These rocks have been folded and faulted to form the mountains on the east side of the Elk River valley. This deformation has stacked the rocks and coal beds, so that the coal makes up a greater thickness than if the rocks were simply were flat-lying.

The Operation:
Mining began in the area in the late 1800's in underground workings. In 1969 Kaiser Resources began mining at the current Elkview location with surface mining. In the mid 1980's underground operations ceased and only surface mining was used to extract coal. Currently there are 5 active pits at Elkview and on occasion there are 6 active pits. Since 1969, 165 million tonnes of clean coal have been produced here. The mine is currently owned by the Teck and operated by Teck Coal.

Elkview has 235 million tonnes of proven clean coal reserves. Depending on the production rates in the future the expected life of the mine is 30-40 years. Exploration drilling is carried out each year to firm up the estimates of proven reserves. This drilling also indicates that there may be up to 1.6 billion tonnes of clean coal in inferred reserve.

Mining Process:
Coal mining here is done by conventional open pit coal mining methods. Five blasthole drills work on site to create either 12.25? (31.1 cm) or 13.75? (34.9 cm) diameter holes. The holes are 17-18 meters deep and are filled with 650-860 kg ANFO. Blasting is done every 2-3 days.

Blasted material is picked up by one of several P&H electric shovels with buckets that hold between 28 and 65 cubic yards (21.4- 49.6 cubic metres) of material. The shovels are used to load coal and waste rock into 218 tonne haul trucks. The strip ratio, or ratio of rock to coal, at the site averages just over 8:1 over the mine life. So, approximately 10% of the volume moved is coal.

Broken waste rock is hauled 2.5-3 km to a waste rock dump on the mine site. Broken coal is hauled by truck 1-5 km to central hopper facility. There the raw coal is put on an open conveyor which sends it 3.5-km overland to a breaker station (crusher) on the north side of the mine site. The breaker reduces the coal to less than 2.5cm in size. From there the crushed coal is conveyed 1.5 km through a tunnel to raw coal silos which hold the coal and supply the preparation plant. Conveyors help lower the cost of moving coal on this large mine site.

The preparation plant is a large complex of buildings where the coal is sorted by size and separated from the waste rock. Here, nearly 7 million tonnes can be processed through the plant each year.

When the coal first enters the plant the raw coal passes through screens that sort the raw coal into coarse, intermediate and fine sizes. The coarse material (>6.4 cm by 1.3 cm) goes to a 101 cm (40) heavy media cyclone that uses a magnetite slurry to separate the coal from the waste rock. The intermediate material is sent to a smaller 61 cm (24) heavy media cyclone to separate the coal from waste. The finest material (<.5 mm) is directed through a water-only cyclone, then a dilute cyclone, and finally to froth flotation cells to separate the fine coal from waste rock sand. All of the clean coal from the three circuits is then sent to a thermal dryer to reduce the moisture. From the dryer the clean coal is conveyed to four 13,600-tonne silos where it is stored until it is loaded onto a train and shipped to markets.

Waste rock material that is separated from coal in the preparation plant is called refuse or rejects. The coarse rejects are hauled away by truck to a waste rock dump while the fine rejects are deposited in a lagoon.

Ongoing Reclamation:
The Elkview mine is located in the mountains along the east side of the Elk River valley. The original landscape was covered with mid- to high-elevation forest and is home to a wide range of animals. The approved end land use for the Elkview property is wildlife habitat. Following mining and reclamation the landscape will be smoother than it was originally and will consist mainly of grasslands intermixed with tree cover.

Reclamation work is carried out as mining continues at Elkview. In the past five years alone more than 950 hectares of land have been reclaimed. First, bulldozers push waste rock and recontour the slopes to make them less steep and more even. Next the slopes are seeded, commonly by helicopter, with a special mixture of 10 to 13 different species of grasses and legumes. In some small areas native grass seeds are planted. In other areas, depending on elevation, native trees and shrubs are also planted. Replanted areas are also fertilized 2 or 3 times to help ensure healthy plant growth.

The most difficult part of the reclamation work at Elkview is the re-establishment of trees and shrubs. Many slopes which must be reclaimed face south and so are very dry and difficult to establish lush vegetation. The approved reclamation plan recognizes this difficulty and permits lower densities of trees on the driest sites. To date nearly 1000 hectares of the 3,300 disturbed hectares have been revegetated at the Elkview Mine.

Elkview Mine must monitor water quality and air quality in the entire region, especially in the nearby town of Sparwood. Monitoring stations have been set up in 38 locations, each one recording water and air quality data and allowing environmental engineers to perform experiments and conduct tests. Environmental engineers monitor the levels of suspended clay and soil, the clarity of the water, the nitrate, nitrite and ammonia content, pH levels, chloride levels, phosphate levels, selenium levels, and check temperature, rate of flow, and how well plants and animals thrive in the water.

At the mine, one of the most effective means to protect the water in streams on the property is to plant vegetation. Plants develop root systems that hold the loose sediment at the surface and prevent it from being eroded. Loose sediment that runs into streams not only clouds the water, it may contain nitrate, nitrite and ammonia left over from blasting, which in certain quantities are poisonous. Environmental engineers also direct surface water runoff to settling ponds where the fine sediment settles out before the water is allowed to reenter natural streams.

The mining process also generates a lot of dust that does impact air quality at and around the mine. Here again, plants play an important role in holding sediment in place and reducing wind erosion. Also, during the dry season water trucks travel around the mine spraying water on roads and slopes to keep dust down.

Markets:
The Elkview preparation plant produces four different clean coal products, each one sold to a different market with several different buyers. The plant produces enough clean coal to fill one train every twelve operating hours.

The metallurgical coal produced at Elkview is used primarily in the Japanese steel industry. It is also sold to Korea, Brazil, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Taiwan. All of the coal is shipped by train across BC to Westshore Terminals located south of Vancouver. There it is loaded onto ships which sail across the Pacific Ocean to Asian ports.

The People:
Employment: In 2003, Elkview employed 740 people at the mine's operation. Of these, 46% worked directly in mine operations, 28% worked in maintenance, 17% in the processing plant, 3% in geology and engineering, and 6% in administration.

The mine operates every day, 24 hours a day. The majority of the Elkview workforce works a 4 by 4 shift of 12 hours (2 days/2 nights, 4 days off). Some employees work 4 10-hour shifts each week (Monday ? Thursday or Tuesday to Friday), while the remainder work 5 8-hour shifts (Monday to Friday) and have weekends off.

About 40% of the people who work at Elkview mine live in nearby Sparwood, while about 22% live in Fernie, 24% live in the Crowsnest Pass, and 14% live in other communities farther from the mine site such as Calgary, Lethbridge, and Cranbrook. Everyone who works at the mine provides their own transportation to and from work each day. Many people share rides.

Community: The nearest community, Sparwood, is home to 4200 people. About 30% of working people who live there earn a living from mining at Elkview or one of the other nearby mines. Elkview Mine provides the community $6 million from direct employment and about $1.5 million from indirect jobs.

As much as possible the mine also purchases supplies and services locally, including $18 million every year in Sparwood, $1.2 million in Fernie, and over $2 million in Elkford. Elkview also supports the community by donating to many non-profit groups and organizations. The mine supports local athletics programs and charities that benefit underprivileged and handicapped people. Every year, Elkview donates thousands of dollars to the 'Mining for Miracles' campaign for the Children's Hospital, and donates food and gifts to those in need at Christmas time.

People who live and visit Sparwood enjoy outdoor recreation activities in the mountains: hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, and skiing. The community also offers golfing, a skating rink, and a community fitness center.

More information on Elkview can be found on the Teck Cominco Web site.

Information and uses of: metallurgical coal.

April 2009 Update