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Alberta’s energy regulator will consider controversial applications to explore a new coal mine in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, ruling the project is excluded from a government-mandated ban on exploration approvals. The decision announced on Friday applies to a set of permit applications for exploratory activities by Northback Holdings Corp. at Grassy Mountain, on the site of an old mine that closed about five decades ago.
Northback, formerly Benga Mining Ltd., is a subsidiary of Australian mining giant Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. Benga’s application for an open-pit mine on the land was rejected by a joint federal-provincial panel in June, 2021, because of environmental concerns.
That decision came at a time of intense public backlash over coal mining in Alberta, which forced the government to halt exploration for coal on a swath of sensitive land and cancel a series of leases earmarked for potential new mines.
In 2022, then-energy minister Sonya Savage also directed the Alberta Energy Regulator to suspend approvals and refuse new applications for exploration and development unless they were related to an advanced coal project or an active approval.
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