INNOVATION March-April 2017

f ea t u r e s

Eastern BC's coal mines, including Teck Resources Ltd.'s five mines in southeastern BC (T his and preceding pages ) produce mostly metallurgical coal used in making steel. Although alternative technologies to eliminate or reduce use of metallurgical coal in steelmaking are being explored, most remain in the research stage and none have yet been found to be economically viable. P hotos : T eck R esources L td .

Teck Resources Ltd. and located in southeastern BC’s Elk Valley are major economic drivers for the province, employing almost 4,000 people and spending more than $1 billion on goods and services in 2013. As of January 2017, five mines owned by Teck produce metallurgical coal in southeastern British Columbia. These are Fording River, Greenhills, Line Creek, Elkview and Coal Mountain. In northeastern British Columbia, Conuma Coal Resources Ltd. has restarted production at the Brule and Wolverine mines, and the Willow Creek mine is set to restart this coming summer. Peace River Coal’s (Anglo American plc) Trend mine remains idled. The mines are open pit, truck, and shovel mines. At least 13 coal exploration companies are active in BC’s coal fields. Last year, $38.5 million was spent on coal exploration in the province. Typical coal exploration activities include field mapping, drilling, downhole geophysics, coal-quality analysis, coal-washability testing, pilot-scale carbonization, and coke tests. Riding the Commodities Cycle In keeping with what occurs within the mining industry generally, the coal industry is cyclical. The industry has just experienced a two-year decline in metallurgical coal prices. However, as recently as July 2016, metallurgical coal prices have started to pick up, and premium metallurgical coal has since sold at more than US$300 per tonne.

Within the furnace, coke ful fi lls two roles. It provides physical support, as coke and iron pellets are continuously fed into the furnace in layers. Coke also acts as a reductant in the chemical reaction that removes the oxygen from the iron oxides. When hot air is injected into the furnace, it causes the burning coke to produce carbon monoxide (CO), which in turn reacts with the melted iron ore, binding with and removing the oxides within the ore. Coal suitable for coke making and for pulverized coal injection depends on its rank—the depth and duration of the coal’s burial— petrography, chemical and rheologic characteristics, particle size, moisture content, and weathering. Value to British Columbia British Columbia’s coal mines predominantly produce metallurgical coal—some of the highest-quality coking coal in the world, sold at premium prices. According to the BC Ministry of Energy and Mines’s British Columbia Coal Industry Overview 2016, the value of coal production in the province totalled about $3.32 billion last year—or 46 percent of all mineral-production value in the province. The report also says “coal remains British Columbia’s most valuable mined commodity in terms of annual sales.” A 2015 independent economic study by the BC-based Resource Works Society confirms that the coal mines owned by

2 0

M A R CH/A P R I L 2 017

i n n o v a t i o n