Project Overview and Location

 

The Murray River Coal Project (Project) is an underground metallurgical coal mine. The Project holds the following major permits: Mines Act Permit C-244; Coal Lease (66232426); Environmental Management Act Permit 106666 (amended July 7, 2018); and Water Licences(500270 and 500409). It is anticipated that the mine will produce 6 million tonnes of metallurgical coal per year over 25 years of operation. Coal will be mined using longwall mining, a form of underground coal mining where coal is mined in large panels (typically 1 to 3 km long and 200 to 400 m wide). Longwall mining is designed to maximize extraction rates while maintaining worker safety. While this mining method is not currently used in Canada, this method has been used for many years at mines around the world.

  

The Project is located 12.5 km southwest of the town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia (BC; Figure 1). The coordinates are E 112°54'03"-121°18'07", N 54°56'59"-55°09'59". 

 

 

(Figure 1.1)

 

There  are five coal seams that will be targeted for longwall mining: D, E, F, G/I, and J (depth increases   alphabetically). The underground area has been divided into four large coal Blocks, with each Block  consisting of 10 to 30 panels in all levels of coal seams. The current underground mine layout  includes a total of 84 panels. Where multiple seams are planned to be mined vertically, mining will  begin at the shallowest seam (e.g., D Seam), and work downwards. The majority of production is   planned in the F and J seams. Exact locations of the coal seams and key project infrastructure, such as the decline site, are provided in Figure 2. For further insights into our project infrastructure, please refer to the dropdown section below, which offers comprehensive details on each component.

 

       (Figure 2)

 

 

 

Project Infrastructure

• underground mine;
• decline site;
• shaft site;
• coal processing site; and,
• secondary shaft site.

Major Project Components

• waste rock storage facilities;
• overburden and soil storage areas;
• explosive and soil storage areas;
• coal rejects storage areas;
• coal handling and preparation facilities;
• coal conveyor; and,
• rail load-out.

Key Benefits of Underground Mining

• Underground mining will produce limited waste rock, and the mine will have a small surface footprint compared to an open pit mine of equivalent production rate;
• Project infrastructure and disturbance will be limited to areas of low elevations (outside of core caribou habitat) and in areas of pre-existing disturbance;
• Roads and utilities infrastructure (e.g., power, natural gas, rail) already exist and minimal expansion of this infrastructure will be required to support the Project; and,
• Dewatering of flotation tailings will allow co-mingling of coarse and fine coal rejects in a single facility so there will be no subaqueous tailings storage, reducing closure liability.