Alrosa plans production cuts and staff reduction for 2025
The miner may cut its labor costs by 10%, which could involve layoffs among its 35,000 staff.
Port of Vancouver | Image from Port Metro Vancouver
The province of British Columbia is Canada’s third-largest miner in terms of production value – its mining industry generated $9.2 billion in revenue in 2012.
Business in Vancouver has taken a closer look at the province’s mines and compiled a handy list of the biggest ones.
Unsurprisingly, coal mines took up nearly all the top-ten spots, as the black rock accounts for almost one-half of the shipments handled at the Port of Vancouver.
Canada’s largest diversified miner occupies the first six spots.
1. Fording River, Elkford – Teck
2012 revenue: $1.45 billion
Produces: Met and thermal coal
Summary: The Fording River mine is located 29 kilometres northeast of the community of Elkford, in southeastern British Columbia. The mine is comprised of 20,304 hectares of coal lands of which 4,263 hectares have been mined or are scheduled for mining.
2. Elkview, Sparwood – Teck
2012 revenue: $1.05 billion
Produces: Met coal
Summary: The Elkview mine is located approximately three kilometres east of Sparwood in southeastern British Columbia. Teck has a 95% partnership interest in the Elkview mine. The remaining 5% is held by affiliates Nippon Steel Corporation and POSCO, a Korean steel producer, each of which acquired a 2.5% interest in 2005.
3. Highland Valley Copper, Logan Lake – Teck
2012 revenue: $1.01 billion
Produces: Copper, molybdenumSummary:Highland Valley Copper, located in south central British Columbia, Canada, produces copper and molybdenum concentrates. Teck has a 97.5% interest in the mine.
4. Greenhills, Elkford – Teck
2012 revenue: $845 million
Produces: Met coalSummary: The Greenhills mine is located eight kilometres northeast of the community of Elkford, in southeastern British Columbia. The minesite is comprised of 11,806 hectares of coal lands of which approximately 2,265 hectares have been mined or are scheduled for mining.
5. Line Creek, Sparwood – Teck
2012 revenue: $566 million
Produces: Met and thermal coalSummary: The Line Creek mine is located approximately 25 kilometres north of Sparwood in southeastern British Columbia. Line Creek supplies steelmaking and thermal coal to a variety of international and domestic customers. The Line Creek property consists of 8,183 hectares of coal lands of which approximately 2,267 hectares are currently being mined or are scheduled for mining.
6. Coal Mountain, Sparwood – Teck
2012 revenue: $436 million
Produces: Met and thermal coalSummary:The mine site is comprised of 3,836 hectares of coal lands, of which approximately 1,016 hectares are currently being mined or are scheduled for mining. The mineral reserves associated with the Coal Mountain mine lie in the 120-million-year-old Mist Mountain formation of the Crowsnest coal field.
7. Wolverine/Perry Creek, Tumbler Ridge – Walter Energy
2012 revenue: $367 million
Produces: Met coalSummary: Part of the Wolverine Group properties, the property covers a total of 6,106 hectares in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, approximately 725 km northeast of Vancouver.
8. Gibraltar, Williams Lake – Taseko Mines
2012 revenue: $338 million
Produces: Copper, molybdenumSummary: Gibraltar, Taseko Mines Limited 75% owned copper-molybdenum mine, is located near Williams Lake in central British Columbia, Canada. The open pit mine, covers approximately 109 square kilometers and consists of 251 mineral claims and 30 mining leases. The property hosts resources and reserves in seven separate mineralized zones which has supported mining for most of the past 30 years.
9. Brule mine, Chetwynd – Walter Energy
2012 revenue: $291 million
Produces: Met coal
Summary:The Property has a number of sizeable low-volatile (LV) bituminous coal deposits including the Brule deposit, Blind deposit and (separately-listed) Dillon deposit. Mining operations at the Brule Mine commenced in November 2006, and the first coal from the mine was produced in Jan/07.
10. Trend, Tumbler Ridge – Peace River Coal
2012 revenue: $244 million
Produces: Met coal
Summary: NEMI began mining operations at its Trend Small Mine in December 2005. Operations by Peace River Coal are continuing. The Trend Small Mine is an open-pit excavator-truck operation.
Click here to see BIV’s full list of BC’s biggest mines
