Twitter

Coal

Coal firm appeals rejection of Grassy Mountain open-pit mine – by Ian Vandaelle (BNN Bloomberg – July 19, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

The company behind a proposal to build a massive open-pit coal mine along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains is appealing a regulatory decision that halted the development last month.

Australia-based Benga Mining Limited said Monday it launched a legal appeal process to dispute the rejection of the Grassy Mountain steelmaking coal mine by a joint provincial-federal review panel, taking issue with a number of the panel’s findings.

Benga Chief Executive Officer John Wallington said in a release the company disagreed with the Joint Review Panel (JRP) and Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) methodology and conclusion, including Benga’s view that the regulators did not properly take into account First Nations’ support for the project.

Read more

Report: Appalachian states face billions in mining cleanup (Associated Press/Lexington Herald Leader – July 15, 2021)

https://www.kentucky.com/

The cleanup and reclaiming of coal mines in seven Appalachian states will cost billions, and Kentucky and West Virginia have the largest bills coming due, according to an environmental group’s new report.

Total reclamation liability for the two states is between $4.1 and $5.8 billion, with less than half of that covered by existing bonds, according to estimates in the report by Appalachian Voices.

Pennsylvania’s estimated liability is roughly identical to Kentucky’s, at $1.9 billion to $2.25 billion, although it has an advantage in that up to two-thirds of that liability is covered by bonds.

Read more

Europe Plans Aggressive New Laws to Phase Out Fossil Fuels – by Somini Sengupta (New York Times – July 13, 2021)

https://www.nytimes.com/

European officials are preparing to introduce ambitious legislation designed to wean one of the world’s biggest and most polluting economies off fossil fuels far more quickly than other nations have pledged to do. The proposals could include phasing out coal as an electricity source as well as imposing tariffs on polluting imports — an idea with the potential to set off global trade disputes.

The European Commission’s package of around a dozen legislative proposals, expected on Wednesday, is designed to swiftly reduce the emissions of planet-warming gases and meet an ambitious climate goal, already enshrined in law: The 27-nation bloc has said it will cut its emissions of greenhouse gases by 55 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

The legislation is expected to be in sharp contrast to vague aspirations by various other countries to neutralize their emissions by midcentury. “It’s not just a big promise,” said Jennifer Tollmann, a Berlin-based analyst for E3G, a research and advocacy group that works on climate policy.

Read more

Black lung, a scourge of the past, still plagues Illinois mines – by Kari Lydersen (Energy News Network – July 14, 2021)

Home

When Robert Cohen learned about black lung disease as a medical student, he assumed it was a relic of the past. “I thought it was something that happened in the times of Émile Zola” — whose 1885 book “Germinal” chronicled the horrors of France’s coal industry. “I didn’t think I’d see it in my practice.”

Almost four decades later, he still treats miners from downstate Illinois, their lungs scarred from breathing coal dust. They trek up to Chicago, sometimes looking out of place in the sleek hospital waiting room on Chicago’s ritzy Gold Coast, where Cohen sees patients.

“The nurses love them, they are so down to earth,” said Cohen, who also founded a black lung clinic at Chicago’s public county hospital, serving miners from around the region, including many who had migrated to Chicago from Appalachia after mines there closed.

Read more

Gas Is So Scarce in Europe That Coal Is Making a Comeback – by Vanessa Dezem, Jesper Starn and Isis Almeida (Bloomberg News – June 15, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Europe is so short of natural gas that the continent — usually seen as the poster child for the global fight against emissions — is turning to coal to meet electricity demand that is now back to pre-pandemic levels.

Coal usage in the continent jumped 10% to 15% this year after a colder- and longer-than-usual winter left gas storage sites depleted, said Andy Sommer, team leader of fundamental analysis and modeling at Swiss trader Axpo Solutions AG.

As economies reopen and people go back to the office, countries like Germany, the Netherlands and Poland turned to coal to keep the lights on.

Read more

New Book Explores Appalachia’s Coal Mined Landscapes – by Robbie Harris (Radio IQ WVTF.org – July 8, 2021)

https://www.wvtf.org/

For more than a hundred years, coal from Appalachia helped power the nation and the world. But that’s changing as new forms of clean energy emerge. A new book documents the rise of coal and its eminent decline, when coal is no longer king.

Without coal, there might never have been an industrial revolution. But the new revolution in cleaner energy is clearly coming, so scientists from Virginia Tech and West Virginia University, set out to document everything they could find, regarding the coal economy of the past 2 centuries and a way of life that sustained communities.

“The title is, “Appalachia, Coal, Mined, Landscapes, Resources, and Communities in a New Energy Era.” Carl Zipper is professor emeritus in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginian Tech.

Read more

Coal aversion by Biden, environmentalists threatens transition to electric vehicles – by Haris Alic (Washington Times – July 8, 2021)

https://www.washingtontimes.com/

Coal — the longtime nemesis of the green movement — stands to play a significant role in America’s transition from gas-powered to electric vehicles by supplying rare-earth elements for high-tech batteries. The big question is whether President Biden and environmentalists will acquiesce.

Coal and its byproducts contain many of the critical minerals necessary to produce electric vehicle batteries. For instance, the top layer of rock and sediment under which coal lies contains rare earth minerals, such as neodymium, europium and terbium.

Those minerals are vital for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries and other household electronics, including iPhones and computer tablets. Even though the minerals are crucial for technology production, the sediment containing the minerals is often disposed of as refuse after coal is excavated.

Read more

Why Canadian exports of the fuel of the ‘previous century’ continue to surge — for now – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – July 7, 2021)

https://financialpost.com/

Even though Canadian thermal coal must be shipped halfway around the world, it remains marketable to Asian countries for several reasons

In mid-June, the federal Liberals announced what sounded like a one-two punch for Canada’s thermal coal sector.

Calling it the fuel of a “previous century,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government joined with other G7 countries and agreed Canada would no longer finance new thermal coal plants and mines abroad. Meanwhile, at home, his cabinet announced it would apply strict scrutiny to any proposed new thermal coal mines or expansion projects.

But phasing out Canada’s thermal coal sector won’t happen overnight. In fact, if anything thermal coal exports have grown over the past couple years, and may grow further as new markets open up in Asia.

Read more

Union fears big job losses from going green, after Ottawa pledges $420 million to Algoma’s electric retrofit – by Tom Blackwell (National Post – July 7, 2021)

https://nationalpost.com/

Union says 2,700 Northern Ontario steelworkers will bear brunt of Canada’s move away from coal

The announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday seemed like undiluted good news. Ottawa would provide $420 million in aid to Algoma Steel so it could convert its coal-fired furnaces to “electric-arc” technology.

Technology that could cut the greenhouse gasses spewed from the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., plant dramatically — by the equivalent of 900,000 gas-guzzling cars. But not everyone was enthused.

The union for Algoma’s 2,700 workers fears the retrofit as described Monday could mean hundreds of fewer jobs, and that a small northern Ontario city will have to bear a lopsided burden for Canada’s carbon-reduction goals.

Read more

Unrelenting Coal Demand Posts Challenge to World’s Climate Goals – by Dan Murtaugh and David Stringer (Bloomberg News – July 1, 2021)

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/

(Bloomberg) — Coal prices across Asia are surging to records, underscoring a challenge for governments seeking a faster energy transition: the dirtiest of fuels they’re racing to phase out is enjoying booming demand.

Power plants are rushing to secure adequate electricity supplies as a hot summer adds to demand from the region’s post-pandemic industrial revival. On top of that, output in some key producer nations has been hurt, while high natural gas costs mean there’s no cheaper alternative for utilities to turn to.

All that has sparked a coal rally in Asia, the center of demand for the fossil fuel. The price of physical coal cargoes in Australia’s Newcastle and China’s Qinhuangdao ports have soared more than 50% this year to their highest ever.

Read more

Coal Mining in Alberta – by Editorial (Crowsnest Past Herald – June 30, 2021)

https://www.passherald.ca/

I always suspected that the Crowsnest Pass was treated like the asshole of the province, now I’m beginning to see that it’s really true. If you look at certain maps you will be hard pressed to find the Crowsnest Pass; it’s as if the province ended at Pincher Creek. It used to be amusing and the fodder for jokes but now I don’t find it so funny.

The Joint Review Panel (JRP) has submitted its findings and coal mining in this province is in peril. When you have a company as big as Hancock (parent company to Riversdale Resources) get a resounding “the project is not in the public interest” from JRP, it feels like the death walk for coal.

This is what I find incredibly interesting after reading the review. Riversdale spent 5 years and over 20,000 pages trying to convince a government appointed review committee that coal mining is possible in the Crowsnest Pass.

Read more

Glencore to buy out Anglo American and BHP at coal mine – by Greg Roxburgh(Alliance News – June 28, 2021)

https://www.morningstar.co.uk/

(Alliance News) – Glencore PLC on Monday said it has agreed to buy out its Cerrejon coal mine joint venture partners, Anglo American PLC and BHP Group PLC, for USD588 million.

For London-based Anglo American, the sale will mark the wide-ranging miner’s exit from thermal coal. Anglo will be selling its 33% stake in the Colombian mine for USD294 million.

“Today’s agreement marks the last stage of our transition from thermal coal operations,” said Anglo American Chief Executive Mark Cutifani.

Read more

Coal Association seeks responsible Alberta development (Coal Association of Canada – June 24, 2021)

http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Full Report: https://bit.ly/3vVF9kk

The Coal Association of Canada called for responsible coal development in Alberta in a presentation to the province’s Coal Policy Committee.

A little background: The Alberta government quietly opened more than a million hectares of land on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains last year. The backlash was predictable and quick, and in February, the province promised to reinstate the 1976 coal policy to protect these areas. But it did not cancel the new coal leases it had granted during the flip-flop.

Now the Coal Association is walking a fine line between producers and the government. “Responsible coal development and environmental stewardship can co-exist.

Read more

Australian coal companies not giving up on southern Alberta mines in wake of Grassy Mountain rejection – by Robson Fletcher (CBC News Calgary – June 22, 2021)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/

The company behind the proposed Grassy Mountain coal mine in southern Alberta says it is “reviewing its options” after a review panel deemed the project “not in the public interest” and advised the federal government to reject it.

Meanwhile, two other companies with coal leases in the same area say they plan to continue pressing forward with their own proposed mining projects.

Australia-based Riversdale Resources submitted a proposal to regulators in 2016 for the Grassy Mountain project, located about seven kilometres north of the community of Blairmore in the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.

Read more

‘It was very shocking’: Mixed emotions in Crowsnest Pass following panel review of Grassy Mountain coal project – by Austin Lee (CTV News Lethbridge – June 18, 2021)

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/

LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. — For many people living in the Crowsnest Pass, the proposed Grassy Mountain coal project presented an opportunity to get back to the region’s glory days.

However, a recent panel review found Benga Mining Limited’s Grassy Mountain Coal project is not in the public interest and has denied the provincial applications citing environmental concerns such as the impact on water quality, native trout species and biodiversity in the region.

For Crowsnest Pass Mayor Blair Painter, the report came as a shocking disappointment. “Our community was founded on coal. That’s what our community does and it has from day one,” said Painter.

Read more