Tenas coal mine
| This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor. |
| Sub-articles: |
| Related-articles: |
Tenas Coal Project (also called Telkwa mine) is situated approximately 25km from the town of Smithers and 7km south-west of the village of Telkwa in British Columbia. Telkwa Coal, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allegiance Coal, is the project developer.
Allegiance Coal Ltd. is now in the early stages of the environmental assessment for the new mine. The mine would produce 775,000-825,000 tonnes of coal per year.[1]
The definitive feasibility study (DFS) of the project was completed in March 2019. Construction is anticipated to be started in 2020 following the grant of permits. First coal from the project is anticipated to be produced in the third quarter of 2021. The project is expected to create approximately 100 jobs during the construction phase and between 90 and 110 full-time jobs during operational phase. Allegiance entered an agreement with Itochu Corporation in November 2018 to secure an initial investment of C$6.6m ($5m) for the Tenas metallurgical coal project development.[2]
Location
The satellite photo below shows the approximate proposed mine site near Smithers, British Columbia, Canada.
Opposition
According to the Environmental Justice (EJ) Atlas, the residents of the Bulkley-Nechako Valley are resisting the project due to concerns about impacts to rivers, water, fish, wildlife, air and their quality of life. It is located near the confluence of the Telkwa and Bulkley Rivers with their important runs of salmon and steelhead. It also lies "wholly or mostly within the recently established Telkwa Mountains Caribou Wildlife Habitat Area."[3]
There are also concerns about carbon emissions from the project contributing to global climate change. Allegiance Coal Ltd’s pre-feasibility study found there is 42.5 million tonnes of saleable coal in the project area (Grace-Dacosta, 2018). If all that coal is pulled out of the ground and used to create steel, this would lead to approximately 140 Mt CO2 tonnes of green house gases eventually being emitted.
The proposed mine is in part on Wet’suwet’en territory.
Project Details
- Owner: Telkwa Coal
- Parent company: Allegiance Coal Limited
- Location: Smithers, British Columbia, Canada
- GPS coordinates: 54.6848793,-127.3352775 (approximate)
- Mine status: Proposed
- Start year:
- Mineable reserves: 29.1 million tonnes[2]
- Coal type:
- Mine size: 1050 ha
- Mine type: Surface
- Production: 775,000 - 825,000 tonnes per year
- Additional proposed production:
- Equipment: Open pit Mining
- Number of employees: 40 direct, 90-110
References
- ↑ Project Summary, Allegiance Coal Limited Website, accessed October 2019.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tenas Coal Project, British Columbia, NS Energy, accessed October 2019.
- ↑ Letter to Minister of the Environment from Nancy Cody and What Matters in our Valley
