Coal mining in Canada: 1986

This report has two purposes: to present significant information on coal mining operations in Canada up to December 1986 and to update the assessment of Canada's coal reserves as of December, 1985. Regarding coal mining operations the report includes names of operators, location and size of operations, a brief description of mining and coal preparation methods and major equipment used. Because the geological setting of coal operations in Canada varies in the extreme and because this setting is critical to the technology used in excavating and processing coal, a section briefly depicting the geology of major coalfields has been included. Canada's coal reserve quantities have been updated from those presented in CANMET Report 83-20E(1). Recoverable coal reserve tonnages for Alberta have increased because of additions for the McLeod River Project in the McLeod River Coalfield( 2) and the Mercoal Project in the Coalspur Coalfield (3), both in Alberta's Foothills Region. Reserves in other coalfields are, with some exceptions, those presented in the earlier report, less production for 1983, 1984 and 1985. EMR's reserve term definitions are unchanged from the earlier report. The approval of coal projects in Alberta and British Columbia follows well-defined procedures. This has resulted in some public disclosure of data on coal reserve quantities, limiting criteria, coal quality, mining plans, environmental impact assessments, etc. Technological information used in this report was also acquired during regular visits by Coal Research Laboratories staff to operating mine sites across Canada.