Name and Location
Murray River coal project, British Columbia, Canada.

Client
HD Mining International.

Project Description
The proposed yearly production for the Murray River mine will be 4.8-million tonnes of clean coal.

Primary project components and infrastructure include:
• an underground mine with a capacity to produce up to six-million tonnes of raw coal a year, mined from two longwall working faces;
• a mainline tunnel system, comprising a travelway for personnel and equipment, a conveyor system to transport coal from the mining face to the production decline and underground mine ventilation;
• underground infrastructure, including an underground operations hub and water management system;
• a production decline to convey raw coal from the underground mine to a coal processing plant;
• a service decline to provide access to the underground mine for personnel and materials;
• a shaft for ventilation, built at the beginning of the mine life at the south end of the underground mine;
• a pair of shafts for ventilation, built about halfway through the mine life at the north end of the underground mine;
• a coal processing plant to process up to 4.8-million tonnes of clean coal a year;
• a conveyor to move the clean coal to an adjacent rail load-out facility;
• two coarse-coal reject piles located adjacent to the processing plant; and
• supporting infrastructure, including, but not limited to, water management
facilities, office and administrative buildings, electricity transmission lines and substations, as well as road upgrades.

The mine will operate for an estimated 25 years.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
The project has an estimated capital cost of $668-million.

Duration
The project will take an estimated three years to build.

Latest Developments
The British Columbia government issued HD Mining with an environmental assessment certificate for the Murray River coal project at the beginning of October.

Provincial Environment Minister Mary Polak and Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett issued the certificate, with 24 legally enforceable conditions governing the project’s construction, operation and decommissioning to ensure that there were no significant unfavourable effects caused by the longwall mining project.

The certificate conditions were developed following consultation and input from First Nations, government agencies, communities and the public.

Key conditions for the project require HD Mining to:
• hire an independent environmental monitor to determine whether the company is complying with the conditions in the environmental assessment certificate;
• develop a plan to address the risk and impacts of subsidence;
• develop a suite of management plans for matters that included wildlife, fish and fish habitat, wetlands, air quality, noise, groundwater and surface water, and impacts from invasive plants;
• develop plans to support healthy communities and identify measures to mitigate economic and social effects;
• continue to serve on the Murray River Aquatic Cumulative Effects Assessment Framework Steering Committee;
• develop a plan to share information between HD Mining and First Nations and to identify measures to avoid impacts on Treaty 8 rights.

Further, based on comments from First Nations and government agencies during the environmental assessment, HD Mining has decided to build a production decline under Murray River instead of building an overland conveyor. The decline is expected to reduce impact on wildlife.

The Murray River coal project will require federal environmental assessment approval and various federal and provincial permits to proceed.

The Environmental Assessment Office will coordinate compliance management efforts with other government agencies to ensure that the office is satisfied that certificate conditions are met throughout the life of the project.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
HD Mining International, tel +1 604 689 8669, fax +1 604 689 0969 or email info@hdminingintl.com.