Mining Week Preview 2015

MINING WEEK PREVIEW

Teck Photo

May 3 to May 9, 2015 Recognizing the importance of mining in our communities

141A Aspen, Sparwood, BC V0B 2G0 (250) 425-2423 http://sparwoodchamber.bc.ca/

We thank Teck Coal and the various companies associated with the Elk Valley mining industry for their ongoing support of the Sparwood Chamber of Commerce and our local business community.

Mining Week luncheon Friday, May 8

with keynote speaker the Hon. Bill Bennett, MLA, Minister of Energy and Mines Please call Chamber before May 4th to reserve your spot.

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Mining Week ~ May 3 to 9

THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, April 30, 2015

Celebrating Mining Week

The importance of mining to Canada’s economy

F

irst celebrated in 1996, National Mining Week recognizes the importance of the Canadian mining industry to the economic development of Canada.

It is a chance to celebrate the important role that mining plays in the lives of Canadians. It is hard to imagine a life without minerals and metals — every day, we all use and rely on products made from them.

Mining takes place in almost every province and territory in Canada — creating jobs and business opportunities, and supporting industries and workers from rural, remote and Aboriginal communities to our large urban centres.

British Columbia’s mining and mineral exploration industry

has a rich history and a promising future. B.C. has been one of the world’s major mining regions since the mid1800s and to this day is a key international player.

It is a chance to celebrate the important role that mining plays in the lives of Canadians.

Encompassing the largest part of the Canadian Cordillera, a mountain belt rich in minerals and coal, B.C. produces and exports a significant amount of copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, molybdenum, coal and industrial minerals

every year.

Historically, B.C.’s vast mineral resources have contributed extensively to the province’s growth and development.

The Hudson’s Bay Company first started producing coal on Vancouver Island in the 1840s, and the discovery of gold along the Fraser River in the 1850s sparked a major gold rush, which was ultimately responsible for the settlement of many parts of that region.

As B.C.’s population increased, the provincial infrastructure improved, and miners were able to explore more and more of the province’s terrain, leading to many new mineral deposit discoveries.

Throughout the century following

the Fraser River Gold Rush, most mining activities in British Columbia took place underground. But in

Teck photo

the early 1960s, the feasibility of open-pit production increased tremendously, and as a result, several huge

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copper mines opened, including Highland Valley Copper— the largest open-pit operation in all of

North America, and, of course, the coal mines here in the Elk Valley.

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Mining Week ~ May 3 to 9

Save lives by recycling batteries

recently announced a $5 million Aquatic Centre, The Source Fernie, eck has launched the partnership to scale up access to Sparwood Communications. For Zinc Saves Lives Battery zinc and oral rehydration salts more information visit www. call2recycle.ca.

Recycling Campaign to in India.

After you drop off the batteries, keep batteries out of landfills and Interested in donating used please report the number of help get zinc to the children who batteries? need it most.

You can drop off used batteries batteries recycled at http://www.

Every AA battery contains the at any Call2Recycle collection zincsaveslives.com and Teck will amount of zinc needed to save depots at Fernie Bottle Depot, donate the value of the zinc inside the lives of six children. For every Canadian Tire Fernie, Fernie those batteries to UNICEF. battery recycled during the campaign, which runs until August 31, 2015, Teck will donate the value of zinc it contains to UNICEF in City Hall 501-3rd Ave., Box 190 Fernie, BC V0B 1M0 support of our Zinc & Health www.fernie.ca partnership in India.

As one of the world’s largest producers of zinc, Teck is committed to raising awareness about, and helping solve, the global issue of zinc deficiency. Zinc deficiency is a global health challenge – 2 From the mayor, council and staff billion people worldwide are The City of Fernie affected and nearly 450,000 children die every year from complications associated We recognize with zinc deficiency.

Teck’s Zinc & Health the support program works with that the mines international organizations to help deliver life-saving zinc provide to treatments to those in need.

Teck has partnered with our Elk Valley UNICEF since 2009 in Nepal, communities.

Peru and Namibia, and

Submitted

T

Celebrating our mining heritage

Teck Lands Coordinator, Casey Brennan, is supporting the Zinc Saves Lives campaign by recycling batteries. Teck will donate the value of the zinc inside recycled batteries to UNICEF. Submitted photo

M

Mining Week and what it means to us

ining is one of BC’s largest and oldest industries and BC Mining Week provides an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contribution of the modern industry to British Columbians.

BC Mining Week is declared each year by the Legislature of British Columbia.

BC Mining Week 2015 takes place May 3 to 9.

This celebration has a long history in B.C. The first B.C. Mining Week took place 25 years ago in Vancouver.

What began as a celebration in Vancouver many years ago has now spread province-wide in communities across the province that want to participate in the recognition of the contribution of the mining sector in B.C. In the Elk Valley, mining plays an especially important part of our community. The industry creates jobs, supports businesses, fosters growth, and creates communities. Mining Week gives us a chance to not only pay tribute to mining throughout B.C. but to celebrate how it has helped the Valley grow.

The Elk Valley benefits from having top trained mine rescue workers available in the event of an accident at one of the mines.

As mining week begins, the Elk Valley remembers the rich heritage of mining in the valley while looking ahead to a prosperous and vibrant future.

Proud supporters of Mining in the Elk Valley

We are proud to support and serve the mining industry and the Elk Valley!

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250-423-5500

bestwesternfernie.com

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THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, April 30, 2015

Sparwood mining history and heritage

Sparwood’s roots are deep and must not be forgotten. The loss of three smaller towns is how Sparwood became what it is today.

By Jenna Jensen

S

parwood’s coal mining history dates back into the 1800’s. Although some of the landmarks have been lost over the years, there are still photos, records and stories passed down through the years to remind today’s residents of all that came before them.

Sparwood’s roots are deeply rooted in mining.

Originally there were three separate towns, now long gone. Although not all of the history is reason to celebrate, it all made Sparwood the town it is today.

Michel, Natal & Middletown

These three small settlements only separated by a kilometre were the site of what was eventually to become the beginning of Sparwood.

Many people travelled from England, Czechoslovakia and Italy among other places to start a new life in the hopes of a bright future in the booming coal mining industry.

Michel

Maybe seen as the most well known and documented of the three settlements, Michel is where the coal boom began.

In 1899 the Crow’s Nest Coal Company (CNP) was ready for a huge future in mining when testing revealed that the coal in the area was perfect for coking - which also meant huge profits.

The first settlements consisted of 12 identical houses, Michel Hotel and a little store. Men went to work in the mines and the women tended house. At first coal production was slow, but a push from CPR encouraged the mines to start producing more. Life in Michel was not without misfortune. Fires for three consecutive years and explosions killed many men.

Natal

Natal was first established in 1907. Natal was also known as New Town and New Michel. Natal was a place set up to give the miners options of another place to live besides the town of Michel. Miners could build their own houses here as many did, and later some small family businesses set up creating jobs for the women and became a central place for families to go when they needed something.

Middletown

One of the least known settlements of the three, Middletown was given its name as it was located between the two towns of Michel and Natal.

Middletown was the smallest of the three settlements, consisting of three dirt roads and approximately 40 houses.

Michel-Natal hospital.

Submitted photo

Village of Michel.

Submitted photo

Downtown Natal.

Submitted photo

The Makings of Sparwood

Sparwood was developed

by Crow’s Nest Coal Company for a place to house mine managers. Sparwood was clean and quiet, being built upwind from the billowing smoke and debris from the coke ovens. In 1960 oil and gas were in much more demand than coal and the effects on the settlements had already been taken. Many people were left in dismay as they had put all their life’s savings into the homes they had built in the towns. A lot of folks were angry and did not want to leave, but in the end they were left no choice as their homes were demolished.

What little money they did receive for them was surely not enough to build a new one, but people made do. The beginning of Sparwood may not have been the brightest, but to take a look at it now, all will say what a wonderful place it is to live.

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About Elk Valley area coal mines Coal Mountain

Fording River

Elkview

Greenhills

Line Creek

26.7 million

Teck’s Coal Mountain operation is located 30 kilometres southeast of Sparwood in southeastern British Columbia.

Coal mined at Coal Mountain is used to produce steel.

The current annual production capacities of the mine and preparation plant are approximately 2.7 and 3.5 million tonnes of clean coal, respectively.

Proven and probable reserves at Coal Mountain are projected to support mining at current planned production rates for a further 6 years. Last updated: April 2014

Teck’s Greenhills operation is located eight kilometres northeast of the community of Elkford, in southeastern British Columbia.

Greenhills is operated under a joint venture agreement among Teck, POSCO Canada Limited (“POSCAN”) and POSCAN’s parent, POSCO. Pursuant to the agreement, Teck has an 80% interest in the joint venture while POSCAN has a 20% interest.

Coal mined at Greenhills is used to produce steel. The current annual production capacities of the mine and preparation plant (on a 100% basis) are 5.2 and 5.2 million tonnes of clean coal, respectively.

Proven and probable reserves at Greenhills are projected to support mining at current planned production rates for a further 14 years. Last updated: April 2014

Teck’s Fording River operation is located 29 kilometres northeast of the community of Elkford, in southeastern British Columbia.

The mine produces steelmaking coal. The current annual production capacities of the mine and preparation plant are approximately 9.0 million and 9.5 million tonnes of clean coal, respectively.

Proven and probable reserves at Fording River are projected to support mining at current planned production rates for a further 70 years. Last updated: April 2014

Teck’s Line Creek operation is located approximately 25 kilometres north of Sparwood in southeastern British Columbia.

Line Creek produces steelmaking coal. The current annual production capacities of the mine and preparation plant are approximately 3.5 and 3.5 million tonnes of clean coal, respectively. At current planned production rates Line Creek has an estimated remaining reserve life of approximately 19 years. Last updated: April 2014

Teck’s Elkview operation is located approximately three kilometres east of Sparwood in southeastern British Columbia.

Teck has a 95 per cent partnership interest in Elkview. The remaining 5 per cent is indirectly held equally by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, a Japanese steel producer, and POSCO, a Korean steel producer, each of which acquired a 2.5 per cent interest in 2005.

The coal produced at Elkview is used to make steel.

The current annual production capacities of the mine and preparation plant (on a 100 per cent basis) are approximately 6.5 million and 6.8 million tonnes of clean coal, respectively.

At current planned production rates, Elkview is estimated to have a remaining reserve life of approximately 29 years.

Last updated: April 2014

Number of tonnes of coal sold in 2014

Teck is the world’s second largest exporter of seaborne steelmaking coal, an essential ingredient in the production of steel. Their coal business consists of six mines: five in British Columbia and one in Alberta. Coal sales were 26.7 million tonnes in 2014, the majority of which was shipped to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as to Europe and the Americas.

Steelmaking Coal accounted for 32 per cent of their business in 2014.

Mining keeps communities moving Our mines produce more than just minerals. They support families, help to build communities and foster economic growth.

Mining has been at the heart of Elk Valley life since the 1890s.

Today, Teck’s five steelmaking coal mines employ over 4,000 men and women and inject almost $1 billion into the local economy each year.

To learn more, visit www.teck.com

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Crowsnest Pass Coal Company Archives Hidden Treasure F

By John Kinnear

ernie city hall was once the main office for the Crows Nest Pass Coal Company (CNPCC) and its subsidiaries and operated as such for over seventy-five years. Within its eighteen inch thick cast concrete block walls, from its completion in 1905 through until it was donated to the city in 1983, a virtual cornucopia of artifacts, documents, pictures, books, drawings and fine oak furniture were accumulated.

Around 1980 someone within Shell Canada, who was then the owners of CNPCC and the building, called in the Glenbow Museum and Archives to take over this remarkable and valuable collection and move it to their archives for safe keeping.

All manner of documentation was loaded up into 78 boxes that covered the company history from as far back as 1888 to 1975.

Annual reports, correspondence, investigation and inquest notes, wage agreements, legal and financial papers, scrap books, employee records and a whole myriad of related paperwork was shipped off to Calgary to be indexed and properly stored.

Fortunately, at the time this was happening, there was an intercession by Fernie office

Crowsnest Coalfield – A model for interpretation.

“It was then that I came to know of the remarkable hidden treasure in the basement and spent many years working with and displaying its contents. It is probably one of the finest and most complete coal mine artifact collections that exists in Canada and one can literally become totally consumed by its contents.“ Annual Reports – A wealth of historic mining information.

Archives Room – A land of oak and treasures.

employees and the transfer was halted before any of the significant artifact collection was removed.

So it came to be that the archives room in the basement became the coal company museum and has stayed as such for the last thirtyfive years.

I started work for the renamed version of CNPCC (Crowsnest Resources) in this building in 1980 before the Line Creek Mine was ready to go and spent some time in their drafting room which is now the council chambers. It was then that I came to know of the remarkable hidden treasure in the basement and spent many years working with and displaying its contents. It is probably one of the finest and most complete coal mine artifact collections that exists in Canada and one can literally become totally consumed by its contents.

Within the beautiful woodpanelled walls of the archives room one can find all manner of artifacts directly or indirectly connected to the coal company history. For this researcher it is the mining books and government annual reports that are a gold mine. Dating back to the late 1800’s the annual reports provide a complete overview of all mineral activity in the province complemented by significant pictures of new and existing mining developments.

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Crowsnest Pass Coal Company Archives Hidden Treasure cont’d Continued from page C6

There are also two complete sets of mining texts that cover every single aspect of coal mining (construction and operation) one can imagine. One thirty volume set has the CNPCC name embossed in gold on the front of each one and the sketches interspersed within each volume have a level of artistry not seen these days in publications. Literally hundreds of reference texts on every imaginable topic lay waiting in oak shelving units for one to peruse over.

I was surprised to find amongst these mining gems a 1908 publication by no less than Alfred Nobel entitled: “The

Book of High Explosives” with a four page fold-out of their huge explosives factory in Glasgow, Scotland. The scope and value of the archive book collection is huge and for a mining historian like myself a literal treasure trove of information.

When one first steps into the archives room one’s senses are swept away by all the oak finery, the eye delights of such things as a dinosaur footprint cast in stone, the historic pictures that line the tops of the panelled walls and the immense variety of interesting artifacts that one beholds. Within the small museum space one can become totally immersed in every aspect of the fascinating history of a coal company that developed the huge coal resources of the

“When one first steps into the archives room one’s senses are swept away by all the oak finery, the eye delights of such things as a dinosaur footprint cast in stone, the historic pictures that line the tops of the panelled walls and the immense variety of interesting artifacts that one beholds.“

Oak roll top desk- A mini-museum in itself.

Paris 1900 World Exposition brass medal.

Crowsnest Coalfield.

The Crowsnest Coalfield was modelled in two scales by the company and the larger model that sits on a 4 foot by 8 foot table in the archive is one of a kind. It

displays surface topography and geology of the Fernie/Sparwood area and the surrounding geological formations and can be split apart in three places to show subsurface geology. It is

Photos by John Kinnear

a wonderful hands-on teaching tool. Long before Google Earth this model helped show the 3D extent of the coalfield and the surrounding geology. To develop this coalfield’s resource meant understanding the Kootenay coal bearing formation’s extent and where it’s outcropping in the valley bottom presented a developable scenario.

Amongst the dozen or so pieces of oak office furniture the rolltop desk stands as the piecede-resistance and is chock-ablock full of fascinating artifacts including a pair of 38 and 32 calibre pistols that were originally kept in payroll upstairs. Guess they didn’t want a coal miner withdrawing more than he had earned! Stored also in the desk are some fascinating three inch diameter bronze medallions that were awarded the coal company for exhibits in some rather faraway places like world fairs held in Paris, France in 1900, St. Louis, Missouri in 1904 and the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland Oregon in 1905. There is also a 1910 trophy awarded them by the Spokane Interstate Fair for best coke and coal display.

Nearby, securely chained to yet another solid oak filing cabinet, is an 1898 model Winchester lever action 38-55 rifle with the name J. J. Crabb, a former officer of the CNPCC who did a lot of field work up in the mountains.

Exploration could get dangerous at times I guess and this calibre of rifle makes a helluva bang.

Please see next week’s issue of Mining Week in The Free Press for the continuation of ‘Crowsnest Pass Coal Company Archives Hidden Treasure’.

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THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, April 30, 2015

Credit: Coal Alliance

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glossary of mining terms

ACID DEPOSITION - The transfer of acids or acid-forming substances from the atmosphere to the earth’s surface. Referred to as wet deposition when the transfer occurs through precipitation (rain, snow, fog); and dry deposition when the transfer occurs through other processes such as absorption, impaction, sedimentation, and chemical reaction.

ACID SENSITIVE ENVIRONMENTS Environments which can be easily damaged by acid deposition. Some environments have natural buffering capabilities which allow them to neutralize significant amounts of acid deposition.

AGGLOMERATION - A family of processes which can be used to concentrate valuable minerals (including coal) based on their adhesive properties.

ANTHRACITE - Coal of the highest rank; it is almost pure carbon and is used mainly for home heating and cooking, in some developing countries industrial purposes.

BITUMINOUS - An intermediate ranked coal between anthracite and sub-bituminous coal. It has a high carbon content and is low in moisture content.

Bituminous coal can be used for both steelmaking and power generation. Low and medium volatile bituminous coals are ranked by their carbon content, while high volatile bituminous coals are ranked by their heating value.

BOILER - A tank in which water is heated or steam is generated.

BREAKER - A machine which combines coal crushing and screening. Normally consists of a rotating drum in which coal is broken by gravity impact against the walls of the drum.

CARBON DIOXIDE - A colorless, odorless, nontoxic radiative gas that is essential to plant and animal life. It is also emitted as a result of burning organic materials, including fossil fuels.

CHARCOAL - The residue, primarily carbon, from the partial combustion of wood or other organic matter.

CLEAN-COAL TECHNOLOGIES - Technologies that allow coal-based power or electricity generation to have improved environmental performance, through decreased emissions. These technologies decrease emissions by using coal in a more efficient and costeffective manner.

CLIMATE - The long-term/overall weather of an area. Climate therefore, is the cumulative grouping of separate weather patterns. (see Weather) CLIMATE CHANGE - A wholly natural phenomenon in which climate varies over centuries and millennia through the influence of various factors, such as solar cycles, the change of relative humidity in the atmosphere, and changing levels of so-called “greenhouse gases”. This phrase is often used in place of the term “global warming”. (see Global Warming) COAL - A fossil fuel composed mostly of carbon, with traces of hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur and other elements.

COAL DESULPHURIZATION - Removal of sulphur from coal or coal gas.

COAL GASIFICATION - Any of a variety of processes by which coal is converted to a gas.

COKE - A hard, dry carbon substance produced by heating coal to a very high temperature in the absence of air. Coke is used in the manufacture of iron and steel.

COMBUSTION CHAMBER - The part of a boiler in which fuel is burned.

DEMONSTRATION PHASE - A stage in the research and development process during which a process or facility is tested under anticipated operating conditions.

DRAGLINE - An excavating machine that uses a bucket operated and suspended by lines or cables, one

METALLURGICAL COAL - A term used to describe varieties of bituminous coal that are converted into coke for use in the steelmaking process.

From the Coal Association of Canada www.coal.ca

METHANE - The most simple of the hydrocarbons formed naturally from the decay of vegetative matter, similar to that which formed coal. It is the principal component of natural gas and is a radiative gas.

Mtce - Mega tonnes of coal equivalent.

of which lowers the bucket from the boom; the other, from which the name of the machine is derived, allows the bucket to swing out from the machine or to be dragged toward the machine to remove overburden above a coal seam.

NITROGEN OXIDES (NOx) - Formed when nitrogen (N2) combines with oxygen (O2) in the burning of fossil fuels, from the natural degradation of vegetation, and from the use of chemical fertilizers. NOx gases are a significant component of acid deposition and a precursor of photochemical smog. The primary source of nitrogen oxide emissions is automobile exhaust.

ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR - An electrical device for removing fine particles (fly ash) from combustion gases prior to release from a power plant’s stack.

OZONE (O3) - A bluish toxic gas, with a pungent odor, formed of three oxygen atoms rather than the usual two. Occurs in the stratosphere and plays a role in filtering out ultraviolet radiation from the sun’s rays. At ground level ozone is a precursor of photochemical smog.

ENERGY - The capacity to do work; more commonly used as an all-encompassing generic term describing fuel sources used to provide power.

ENERGY MIX - The combination of sources used to provide energy at any given time and place. Energy sources include coal, oil, gas, water (hydro), uranium (nuclear), wind, sunlight, geothermal and others.

FAULTS / FAULTED - A fracture in the earth’s crust causing displacement of the layers.

FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTION - A process which has a high capability of removing sulphur from coal during combustion. Crushed coal and limestone are suspended in the combustion chamber in the bottom of a boiler by an upward stream of hot air. The coal is burned in this fluid-like mixture. Instead of being released as emissions, sulphur from combustion gases combines with the limestone to form a solid compound recovered with the ash.

OVERBURDEN - Layers of rock and soil covering a coal seam. In surface mining operations, overburden is removed using large equipment and is either used for reclaiming mined areas or hauled to designated dumping areas.

Continued on page C10

Come read about mining history at the Sparwood Public Library We are open: 10 am - 8 pm Tuesday and Thursday, 10 am - 5 pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

12 noon - 4 pm Sunday.

We are closed Mondays and Statutory Holidays!

GASIFICATION - (see Coal Gasification) GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING - The branch of engineering that specializes in assessing the stability and strength of soil and rock materials, as well as groundwater conditions. In mining, geotechnical engineering principles are used to determine the appropriate design of mine features such as pit walls, tunnels and earthen embankments.

For more information call 250-425-2299 or join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sparwoodlibrary

GLOBAL WARMING - A potential increase in the temperature of the earth’s lower atmosphere which some researchers link to the build-up of radiative gases in the atmosphere. (see Climate Change) GREENHOUSE EFFECT - A misnomer for a natural phenomenon that occurs when so-called ‘greenhouse gases’ trap radiated heat in the atmosphere.

The greenhouse effect is actually a minor portion of a complex and dynamic process of heating and cooling that occurs in the earth’s atmosphere. This natural process of heating and cooling also includes the fluid dynamics associated with atmospheric moisture (such as clouds), oceans and other surface water, soot and other dust particles known as aerosols. The entire heating and cooling cycle warms the atmosphere and makes life on earth possible.

The Clean Power Leader of Elk Valley Mining

GREENHOUSE GASES - Gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NO2), and other trace gases which restrict the re-radiation of infrared heat back into the atmospheres.

HOPPER - A bin or funnel that is loaded from the top and which discharges through a door or chute at the bottom.

HYDROCARBONS - A class of compounds containing hydrogen and carbon formed by the decomposition of plant and animal remains, including coal, mineral oil, petroleum, natural gas, paraffin, the fossil resins and the solid bitumens occurring in rocks.

Gasoline is a mixture of hydrocarbons.

HYDROELECTRICITY - Electricity generated using falling water as an energy source.

LIGNITE - A low-rank coal with a relatively high moisture and low heat/energy content. Ranging in colour from black to brown, lignite is used in power generation.

LIQUEFACTION - The process of converting coal into a synthetic liquid fuel, similar in nature to crude oil and other refined products.

LOW SULPHUR COAL - Coal which has a sulphur content generally ranging from 0.1 per cent to 1.0 per cent. All western Canadian coal is low in sulphur.

Every solution.

Every time.

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A

A truck with a colourful past

nyone driving past Sparwood would struggle to miss the town’s biggest, greenest tourist attraction.

It might not be the world’s largest truck anymore, but the Terex Titan in Sparwood is still drawing curious tourists off Highway 3 to have their photo taken next to it.

Although now it is just a reason for motorists to pull over, the “big green truck” was once a fully working mine truck.

The 3,000hp Terex Titan (at that time Terex was part of GM) first appeared in 1974, and was the only one of its type ever built. It was built in GM’s London, Ontario plant, and could haul a load of 320 tonnes.

Not only was it somewhat unusual being a six-wheeler it was also the biggest dump,

highest capacity haul truck in existence for 25 years until the debut of the 360 tonne capacity Caterpillar 797 in September 1998.

These days, CAT, Komatsu and Liebherr have all made larger mining trucks, but the Belarusian mining equipment manufacturer, Belaz, set a Guinness Record last year with its dump truck called the 75710, a 27-foot, eight-wheel truck able to carry 450 tonnes.

The Titan first started work for Kaiser Steel in its Eagle Mountain iron mine in late 1974. At this mine the Titan suffered from downtime problems but eventually hauled some three-and-a-half million tonnes of earth until 1978.

In late 1978 it was then brought to Kaiser Steel’s Sparwood mine in Canada.

The truck was too large to be moved by road, so it arrived by train on eight flatbed cars. It was re-assembled and driven to the mine.

In 1983 the mine was renamed to Westar Mining, and the Titan also changed colours from lime green to Westar’s blue and yellow.

Shortly after, Westar directly purchased the Titan from General Marian B. Gravelle Motors, for US$200 thousand and $1 Notary Public million in spare parts.

Westar finally retired the Titan in 1-800-668-7729 1991.

It was then put on public display in Sparwood in 1993. The Sparwood Chamber of Commerce subsequently established a fundraising effort for the restoration of the Titan. The engine has since been removed and last year the truck got spruced up with a fresh lick of bright green paint!

Proud to support the mining community!

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We are proud supporters of mining in the Elk Valley

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The Titan in Sparwood.

Photo from The Free Press files

glossary cont. of mining terms Continued from page C9

PEAT - A dark brown or black deposit resulting from the partial decomposition of vegetative matter in marshes and swamps.

651 Douglas Fir Road Sparwood BC V0B 2G0 250-425-2077

Mon to Fri 7:30 am to 6:00 pm Sat 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Sun 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

PIT PONIES - Small horses, mules, or ponies which were used to pull coal shuttle cars from underground mines during the 1800s.

PROVED RESERVES - Those quantities which geological and engineering information indicate with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future from known deposits under existing economic and operating conditions.

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soft coal with a heating value between bituminous and lignite.

It has low fixed carbon and high percentages of moisture and volatile material. Sub-bituminous coal is mainly used for generating electricity.

SULPHUR OXIDES (SOx) - A family of gases, including sulphur dioxide (SO2) formed when sulphur, or fossil fuels containing sulphur, burn in air. Airborne sulphur compounds may be converted to other substances which contribute to acid deposition.

TECTONIC FORCES - Forces pertaining to, causing or resulting from structural deformation of the earth’s crust.

RADIATIVE GASES - Any of the natural or man-made gases which, when released, accumulate in the atmosphere.

A characteristic of these gases is that they tend to allow the sun’s heat to pass through to earth but do not allow the heat radiated back from the earth to escape from the atmosphere.

THERMAL COAL - A term used to describe coal which is used primarily to generate heat. Also referred to as steam coal.

SCRUBBER - Any of several forms of chemical/physical devices which operate to remove sulphur compounds formed as a result of fossil-fuel combustion. These devices normally combine the sulphur in gaseous emissions with another chemical medium to form inert compounds which can then be removed for disposal.

TURBINE - A machine that has propeller-like blades which can be moved by flowing water or gas (including steam) thereby rotating a component in a generator to produce electricity.

SHEARER - A rotating cutting device used in underground mining to remove coal from the coal seam.

SUB-BITUMINOUS - A generally

TON - An Imperial unit of weight equivalent to 2,000 pounds or 907.2 kg. This is also known as a “short ton”.

TONNE - A metric unit of weight equivalent to 1000 kg or 2,240 pounds. This is also known as a “metric ton” or “long ton”.

UNIT TRAIN - A train typically consisting of approximately 100 to 110 cars, which is dedicated to the transport of a single commodity such as coal.

VOLATILE MATTER - Matter that is driven off as gas or vapor when coal is heated to about 950° C.

WEATHER - Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a given time that includes temperature, precipitation, humidity, pressure, winds.

THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, April 30, 2015 C11

Mining Week ~ May 3 to 9

Fabrication • Cranes • Repairs • Metal Buildings

Credit: Coal Alliance

We salute Teck Coal for their operations and continued community support

Did you know?

Salute to all the mines in the Elk Valley.

Mining Facts Direct jobs in the Elk Valley: 3500 Worksafe B.C. statistics show that the mining industry is the safest heavy industry in BC. Coal represents a third of the industrial traffic at the Port of Vancouver, the largest port in Canada.

Mining is one of the highest paid industrial sectors nationwide.

The coal stocks of southern British Columbia and Alberta are among the richest in Canada.

Major minerals produced in BC (as a % of Canada’s production): Coal (66%); Copper (40%); Silver (50%); Gold, Lead, Molybdenum & Zinc.

Canada is one of the worlds leading mining countries.

Advocating responsible exploration and mining practices, conservation standards and a future for our communities.

SPARWOOD • 250-425-7738

250-464-9559 • www.ekcm.org

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Mining Week ~ May 3 to 9

THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, April 30, 2015

urface mining is the form of coal mining used in the Elk Valley because the coal belt is not far under the ground.

Giant machines like bulldozers, bucket excavators, and large trucks remove the topsoil and rocks to expose large beds of coal which need to be dug out.

Explosives are first used in order to break through the surface, or overburden, of the mining area.

Blasting for coal is an integral part of the mine operations.

Elkview and Fording River have their own explosives plant to supply product to the rest of the mines in the valley. As in all mining operations, many people are involved to ensure that it is conducted safely.

There are four electric drills. The drills make holes 34 cm in diameter that are 17 m deep, and are able to drill 30 to 60 cm per minute. The drill holes are loaded with explosives and then blasted. The holes are placed in a surveyed pattern of approximately 9 m by 10.4 m. There are 250 to 400 holes per blast. The holes with water in them are lined with plastic to keep the powder dry.

The explosives are made up of 94 per cent ammonium nitrate and six per cent diesel.

Blasts are done three to four times per week, equaling 150 to 200 times per year. The cost per hole is about $175, making blasting the third largest expense after wages and fuel.

A shovel and truck operation is used to remove overburden and coal.

The overburden is first drilled and then blasted. After the blast, the overburden is taken to the one of the numerous dumps. The coal is either taken to the pit hopper where it is transported by an overland conveyor belt to the breaker station, or it is taken to the breaker station directly. It may also

Coal processing be put to stockpile for later use. At the breaker station, the coal is separated from the rock using a rotary drum. The rotary drum has two inch holes in it. The coal breaks up and falls through the holes. Because the rock is harder it does not break up and flows out the end. This is the first stage of separation.

flotation. Currently, 30,000 tonnes of raw coal goes through the plant every operating day. This results in approximately 20,000 tonnes of clean coal and 10,000 tonnes of reject.

To expose one tonne of clean coal, between eight and nine cubic meters of waste rock is moved.

“In 24 hours, workers can remove 317,000 tonnes of rock and 24,000 tonnes of raw coal.“ From there, the coal is put on the raw coal belt that is over a metre wide and travels through a tunnel in the mountain for 1.5 km to the preparation plant. Here, clean coal is further cleaned by means of heavy media separation, cyclone classification, and froth

In 24 hours, workers can remove 317,000 tonnes of rock and 24,000 tonnes of raw coal. This means that in one year, they mine 116 million tonnes of rock and 8.8 million tonnes of raw coal which produces about 5.2 million tonnes of coking coal once it has

been cleaned in the processing plant.

In the processing plant, coal is sorted by size and then cleaned.

After washing, the coal is conveyed to the dryer to reduce the moisture content. The steam that comes out of the dryers is mostly water with a few particles in it. On top of the district building in Sparwood is a monitor that measures the amount of dust in the air. The coal comes in with 25 per cent ash content and leaves with a 9.5 per cent ash content.

30 per cent of the feed to the plant is rejected and placed in waste piles called coarse coal reject or tailing impoundments.

After the coal goes through the dryer, it goes to the clean coal silos. Each silo can hold 12,500 tonnes of clean coal. From the clean coal silos, the coal is loaded onto the trains using a frontend/backend system. The train cars are loaded directly

PROUDLY SERVING MINING AND COMMERCIAL PROJECTS IN THE ELK VALLEY FOR OVER 11 YEARS ANNOUNCING OUR NEW, EXCLUSIVE

under the silos. Each train has 115 to 124 cars and each car can hold about 107 tonnes of coal. Elkview’s loop track limits the length of a train which can be loaded, in order to allow the front end to pass the back end.

After the coal is loaded onto the cars, the cars stop at the spray shack. Here they are topped with a layer of tackifier to prevent dusting during travel.

On average, about five trains full of coal leave the Elk Valley mines each day before coming back empty.

The round trip takes about 80 hours. Teck's mines in the Elk Valley share a fleet of about 38 trains, carrying the coal across BC to Vancouver where it is shipped to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Brazil and Turkey.

APEX POWER & AUTOMOTION, ELK VALLEY RESIDENTIAL DIVISION

Same great quality and service as our other divisions, but with electrical professionals who specialize in residential.

www.apexpower.ca

BC Office: #14 Iskut Rd., Elkford * 250-425-5464 AB Office: 3775 14th Ave. N., Lethbridge * 403-394-9393

Guardian First Aid Services LTD Guardian First Aid is Proud to support & service the Mining Industry and the Elk Valley

Reasonable Hourly and Daily Rates 4 Fully Equipped MTC units 24 hours available For all your first aid needs Debby Tomich Elkford BC V0B1H0 Cell 250-425-5946 Email: guard1fa@telus.net

is proud to support the mining industry in the Elk Valley 585 Michel Creek Sparwood, BC 1 800-663-2705

www.manitoulintransport.com