Name: Elkview mine.
Location: The mine is located about 3 km east of Sparwood, in south-eastern British Columbia, in Canada.
Controlling Company: Teck Cominco has a 95% partnership interest in Elkview, with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation and POSCO holding 2.5% each.
Brief Description: Elkview is one of five steelmaking coal operations in the Elk Valley. The mine site comprises about 27 100 ha of coal lands.
The operation has proven and probable reserves that are expected to support mining at planned production rates for more than 40 years.
Brief History: The discovery of coal in the Elk Valley dates as far back as 1845 to Father Pierre-Jean DeSmet, a Belgian Jesuit missionary who worked with the Kootenay and Flathead Indians (Ktunaxa).
Coal has been mined at the deposit since about 1897 and is the region’s leading mineral resource product.
In 1969, Kaiser Resources started the Balmer mine. By the first year of operation, 1.9-million tonnes were produced from the surface and underground operations. Surface mines took over underground operations in the 1970s.
In 1980, the property was acquired by British Columbia Resources Investment Corporation, which formed British Columbia Coal to operate the mine. The name of the operating company subsequently changed to Westar Mining, which declared bankruptcy in August 1992. Teck Cominco acquired the property in December 1992.
Products: Metallurgical coal.
Geology/Mineralisation: Coal in the Elk Valley region is contained within the sedimentary Mist Mountain formation of the lower Cretaceous Kootenay group. The Mist Mountain sediments were involved in the mountain-building movements of the late Cretaceous to early Tertiary Laramide orogeny and are about 500 m thick, with the depth of burial ranging from 0 to 1 500 m. The major structural features are north-south-trending synclines, with near horizontal to steep westerly-dipping thrust faults and a few high-angle normal faults. This faulting has allowed for the Mist Mountain sequence to be repeated throughout the Elk Valley.
Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at December 31, 2017, were estimated at 293.5-million tonnes of metallurgical coal.
Resources: Total mineral resources as at December 31, 2018, were estimated at 807-million tonnes.
Mining Method: Openpit.
Major Infrastructure and Equipment: Coal is washed in coal preparation plants using a variety of conventional techniques and conveyed to coal- or gas-fired dryers.
Processed coal is transported to clean coal silos or other storage facilities for storage and loaded out to railcars.
Prospects: Teck Mining has received permits to start mining in new areas of the Elkview mine. The Baldy Ridge extension project enables Elkview to extend the current life-of-mine and increase its production of high-quality coal. Mining in this area started in the first quarter of 2017, with first coal release expected in 2020.
Contact: Investor relations.
Contact Details:
Teck Cominco
Tel +1 604 699 4000
Fax +1 604 699 4750
Email investors@teck.com
Website https://www.teck.com