Anglo American coal bidders down to three, say sources
The final bidders are down to Yancoal Australia, Stanmore Resources and Peabody Energy.
A proposed coal mine near Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia is one step closer after it received conditional approval from the BC government.
The Murray River coal mine and its Chinese owner, HD Mining International, faced intense public pressure in 2012 after it was revealed that the company would employ up to 500 temporary foreign workers (TFW) from China. Two labour unions took HD Mining to court over the use of TFWs, claiming foreign workers were favoured over Canadians. However a federal judge dismissed their argument in 2013.
In December 2014 a joint federal-provincial environmental review was launched, and on Thursday, Environment Minister Mary Polak and Bill Bennett, minister of mines and energy, issued an environmental assessment certificate with 24 conditions.
These include: hiring an independent environmental monitor to determine whether HD Mining is complying with the conditions in the environmental assessment certificate; developing a management plan to address impacts on wildlife, fish and fish habitat, wetlands, air quality, noise, groundwater and surface water and impacts from invasive plants; and working with local First Nations to avoid transgressing treaty rights. Federal approval is still required.
“The ministers have issued the certificate with legally-enforceable conditions that have given them the confidence to conclude that the project will be constructed, operated and decommissioned in a way that ensures that no significant adverse effects are likely to occur directly from the project,” the government stated in a press release.
While the environmental certificate is a step forward, it is still uncertain whether the mine will go ahead. Alaska Highway News reported on Thursday that HD Mining has not yet made a final investment decision on the mine, though one is expected in 2016. Bulk samples will be shipped to China next June for testing.
If the company decides to move forward on Murray River, it will be one of the largest underground mines in Canada, using the longwall mining method.
The $668 million project would employ 764 miners, 494 of which would be foreign, in its first year of operation. The use of foreign workers would be reduced as Canadian miners are trained in longwall mining, Business in Vancouver reported. The mine would produce a maximum 4.8 million tonnes of clean coal a year and have a 25-year life.
6 Comments
Peter Cain
Andrew:
I suggest you brush up on your mining history. The first mechanised longwall mine in North America was in Nova Scotia. The Devco mines there used longwall until they closed in 2000 or so. It won’t even be the first mechanised longwall in western Canada – I believe that honour goes to two panels in the early 1970s at 5 Mine in the Smoky River Coalfield at Grande Cache, Alberta. Two more longwall panels at 9G-10 in the same coalfield operated in the late 1990s until the mine closed in March 2000.
They will be the first mechanised longwalls in BC, although hand-got prop and bar longwalls may well have been used in the past.
I am not even sure that it is the first use of Longwall Top Coal Caving in North America, a method I saw in action in France in 1983, developed in China and is now also used in Australia.
And the output you quote is clean coal. ROM output will be about 6 Mtpa from two longwall faces, according to the EA documents filed by the company.
atopf
Peter: Thanks for providing some context and history of longwall mining in Canada. The text has been corrected.
Regards,
Andrew Topf, Mining.com
Andy
I would be interested to see if this goes ahead and if so – will they hire within Canada first before hiring foreign workers – I live in Canada – BC to be exact and have more than 20 yrs in longwall mining in several countries and worked right from the longwall to management – so while I know there may not be many out there in BC that have the qualifications necessary there are some and I m tired of hearing there is no one in BC with the required experience.
Sarah
I am still baffled that they are allowed a large number of foreign workers. Last time I checked Canada was not at 0% unemployment. Canadians need jobs!!
Wayne Waters
What else can one expect from this Governemnt in Victoria. No Foregin Workers, what is the matter with Ottawa and Victoria, use all Canadian Miners.
Boris Badenov
Long Wall Mining is a great excuse to hire foreign workers because they say they are the only ones that can do it.
That is complete bullshit, just look at Nova Scotia and British Columbia’s Comox Valley. We don’t need to be lied to or manipulated.