Conuma Resources, a metallurgical coal miner with operations in northeastern British Columbia (BC), Canada, has resumed mining at its Quintette coal mine, 24 years after it was placed in care and maintenance.
The reopening of activities happened on Sep. 5 and it follows the province’s authorization to restart operations at a portion of the mine, located 20 kilometres south of Tumbler Ridge.
“We were very excited to receive it,” chief executive Brian Sullivan told CBC News. “We’re going to spend upwards of $500 million bringing it back into production. It will have a permanent workforce of more than 400 permanent good paying jobs.”
Conuma, which now operates four mines in the province — Brule, Wolverine, Willow Creek, and Quintette — acquired the latter in 2022 from Teck Resources for $120 million.
In June, the company was fined for over 400 environmental protection violations at its Brule mine site, committed between 2020 and 2023. These infractions included failing to monitor mine waste discharge into fish-bearing waters and neglecting to limit airborne particulate emissions.
