Tent Mountain Coal Mine

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Tent Mountain Coal Mine is a cancelled coal mine in Coleman, British Columbia, Canada.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Tent Mountain Coal Mine Coleman, British Columbia, Canada 49.5542903, -114.707508 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Opening Year Closing Year
Cancelled[1]

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.
Capacity (Mtpa) Production (Mtpa) Year of Production Mine Type Mining Method Mine Size (km2) Mine Depth (m) Workforce Size
1.1 Surface Open Pit 60* 190

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt) Year of Total Reserves Recorded Total Resources (Mt) Coalfield Coal Type Coal Grade Primary Consumer/ Destination
22 60 Bituminous Met

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Evolve Power Ltd Motem Resources Australia

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.

Background

The Tent Mountain Mine was a proposed coal mine, owned by Montem Resources, to be located on the Front Ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in southwestern Alberta and straddling the Alberta-British Columbia border, about 16 km west of the town of Coleman.

As of April 2023, Montem Resources has abandoned plans for its Tent Mine proposal, effectively cancelling the project.[2] Coal was discovered at Tent Mountain by prospectors in the early 1900s, and small-scale underground mining was carried out until the 1940s. In 1948, the first open-cut mine was opened at Tent Mountain, and various phases of open-cut mining occurred until 1983, when operations of the Coleman Collieries were suspended. In its current state the Environmental protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA) does not allow mining and requires amendment to allow mining activities to re-start at Tent Mountain. Montem is in the process of applying for an amendment to the EPEA, along with several other licenses which are required to undertake mining.

The site contains 32.1 million tons (27.1Mt Indicated, and 5.0Mt Inferred) of reserves. Montem intends to complete a feasibility study for the Tent Mountain mine which will aim to show a fast re-start of operations is feasible, at relatively low start-up capital.[3]

The Tent Mountain property consists of Alberta Crown Coal Mineral Leases, Alberta Freehold coal lands, and British Columbia Crown Coal Licenses. All mining, however, is currently planned to occur in Alberta because of the high quality of the coal, the large quantity resources, the proximity to infrastructure and the favorable seam geometries. A total of five coal seams have been identified on this property. The company was moving towards production of Tent Mountain in the second half of 2018.[4] In 2018, it was predicted that Montem would begin production in Tent Mountain within two years.[5]

In 2021, Montem revealed interest in using Tent Mountain for pumped-hydro energy storage and hydrogen production. As such, it is currently advancing two parallel strategies for developing Tent Mountain: restarting the existing coal mine through the Federal and Provincial permitting processes, and transitioning the existing coal mine to a renewable energy complex (TM-REX). According to Montem's plan, work on TM-REX will continue for the remainder of the first half of 2022 until the economic analysis of TM-REX is available, at which point the investment potential of both development pathways can be compared.[6][7]

In January 2022, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada suspended the 180-day timeline for the impact assessment at the request of Montem Resources. As for the reason for this request, the company cited needing sufficient time to address issues outlined in the SOI.[8]

In April 2023, Montem Resources notified the Alberta Energy Regulator it had abandoned plans for its Tent Mine proposal and requested termination of the environmental impact assessment (EIA).[9] Instead, Montem Resources plans to build a renewable wind and hydroelectric project at the site.[9]

  • Operator: Montem Resources Limited
  • Owner: Montem Resources Limited
  • Location: Near the town of Coleman, straddling British Columbia and Alberta, Canada
  • GPS Coordinates: 49.5542903,-114.707508 (exact)
  • Mine Status: Cancelled[9]
  • Start Year: 1948
  • Mineable Reserves: 32.1 million tons
  • Coal Type: Bituminous (Metallurgical)
  • Mine Size: 417 ha
  • Mine Type: Surface
  • Production: 1.1 mtpa[10]
  • Equipment: Open-cut mining
  • Development Costs: $168 million[11]

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.

References

  1. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/coal-australian-alberta-withdrawal-montem-1.6823167. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Coal company withdraws plan for mine in Crowsnest Pass to focus on renewable power", Lethbridge News Now, 26 April 2023.
  3. Tent Mountain, Montem resources website, accessed October 2019.
  4. Tent Mountain Old, Montem resources website, accessed October 2019.
  5. ASX-hopeful Montem to develop Canada coking coal projects, Mining Weekly, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018.
  6. "Instead of a coal mine, this Alberta mountain may now become a 'green energy complex'", CBC News, October 20, 2021.
  7. "Montem Resources' Tent Mountain Mine designated as an advanced coal project, unaffected by policy update", Proactive Investors News, March 6, 2022.
  8. Notice of Time Limit Suspension with Reasons, Government of Canada website, accessed June 2022.
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Coal company withdraws plan for mine in Crowsnest Pass to focus on renewable power", Lethbridge News Now, 26 April 2023.
  10. IEA, Coal Information 2020, Mining Projects, accessed January 4, 2021
  11. Montem Resources, Tent Mountain, Company Website, accessed September 2021