Willow Creek mine
{{#badges: Navbar-Global Coal Mine Tracker}}Willow Creek mine is located 45 kilometres west of the town of Chetwynd in northeast British Columbia. The mine is an open cut operation that produces approximately 500,000 tonnes a year of hard coking coal and low-volatile PCI coal for steelmaking. The current owner has applied to expand the mine to produce 1.7 million tonnes a year.[1]
Contents
Location
The satellite photo below shows the mine near Chetwynd, British Columbia, Canada.
Background
Willow Creek commenced operations in July 2005 and produced metallurgical (steelmaking) coal until the mine entered care and maintenance status in October 2006. Mining resumed from August-November 2008, at which point the mine went into care and maintenance due to low coal prices.[2]
The mine was reopened in 2010 and operated by Western Coal, a subsidiary of Walter Energy, a Vancouver, Canada headquartered company. In March 2013, Walter Energy announced that the Company currently expects to idle its Willow Creek operation within the next several weeks (again because of low coal prices) and anticipates recording a one-time cash charge of approximately $7.5 million in connection therewith. The Company currently expects that full year 2013 metallurgical coal production will be in line with production levels in 2012.[3]
Walter Energy also reported that:[3]
- "On March 5, 2013, the Company received a complaint from British Columbia’s Environmental Crown Counsel seeking a total monetary penalty of CAD $100,000 for alleged violations of the federal Fisheries Act associated with an April 2011 release of sediment and debris into Willow Creek from the forest service road leading to the Willow Creek mine. The matter is scheduled for a March 28, 2013 appearance in Chetwynd Provincial Court. To date, the Company has incurred significant costs in taking corrective actions in response to the 2011 release and is continuing to cooperate with regulatory authorities. The Company intends to negotiate with authorities in pursuit of a mutually agreeable settlement."
Conuma Coal Resources Limited, a subsidiary of West Virginia-based ERP Compliant Fuels, acquired the Willow Creek surface mine from Walter Energy in September 2016.[4] The mine restarted operations in June 2018, and in 2019, the company posted on its website that the mine produces 1.2 million tons of coal per year.[5]
Project Details
- Owner: Conuma Coal Resources Limited
- Parent company: ERP Compliant Fuels
- Location: Chetwynd, British Columbia, Canada
- GPS coordinates: 46.1742948,-59.83383 (exact)
- Mine status: Operating
- Start year: 2005
- Mineable reserves: 16.6 million tons[5]
- Coal type:
- Mine size:
- Mine type: Surface
- Production: 1.2 million tons per year
- Additional proposed production:
- Equipment: Open pit Mining
- Number of employees: 190
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ Walter Energy, "Willow Creek", Walter Energy website, accessed May 2011.
- ↑ Willow Creek Overview, BC Mine Information, accessed October 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Walter Energy, "Report of unscheduled material events or corporate event", March 22, 2013, page 2.
- ↑ WILLOW CREEK MINE WILL RESTART IN JULY, Coal Age, Mar 1, 2017.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Willow Creek Mine Mining Data Solutions, accessed October 2019.
