Coal Valley Coal Mine

This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Coal Valley Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Edson, Alberta, Canada.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Coal Valley Coal Mine	Edson, Alberta, Canada	53.0518755, -116.7982727 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1978	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
4	1.92	2022	Surface	Open Pit	206.6	60*	300

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
10.7	–	–	–	Bituminous	Thermal	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Prairie Mines and Royalty LLC	Westmoreland Coal Co [100.0%]	USA

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	0	2	2	0	0	1	1

Expansion/Extension

Table 6: Project status

* Added capacity of a coal mine refers to the enhancement in the mine's production capabilities beyond its initial production capacity.

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Project Phase	Added Capacity (Mtpa)*	Start Year
Cancelled	Pre-Permit	Expansion	–	–	–

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September supplement.

Background

The Coal Valley mine is located in West Central Alberta south of the Town of Edson and is owned by Westmoreland Mining Holdings LLC. The area has a long history of mining and the Coal Valley Mine was opened in 1978 to supply coal to Ontario Hydro and for overseas export. The mine was owned by Sherritt International Corporation from 2001 to 2013. In 2017, Sherritt pleaded guilty in the Provincial Court of Alberta to three counts of contravening the Canadian Fisheries Act as a result of spills that took place in 2011 and 2012. Sherritt was sentenced to pay $1,050,000. In 2013, Westmoreland Mining LLC purchased Sherritt's coal operations in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Annual production of the mine has been 3.0 million tonnes, and the plant has capacity to operate at 4.0 million tonnes per year. Westmoreland Coal Company became a privately held company on March 15, 2019, and has not publicly reported the 2018 Coal Valley mine production data.

In June 2020, the mine was put in care and maintenance due to severe constraints as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it reopened operations a little over one year later, in August 2021.

• Operator: Prairie Mines and Royalty
• Owner: Westmoreland Mining Holdings LLC
• Location: Edson, Alberta, Canada
• GPS coordinates: 53.0518755,-116.7982727 (approximate)
• Mine status: Operating
• Start year: 1978
• Mineable reserves: 10.7 million tons
• Coal type:
• Mine size: 20,660 ha
• Mine type: Surface
• Production: 3 million tons per year
• Additional proposed production:
• Equipment: truck/shovel and dragline pits
• Number of employees: 438

Proposed Expansion

Coal Valley Resources Inc. proposed expanding its Coal Valley Mine in the Coal Branch area of Alberta. The Robb Trend coal mine expansion project, located near the community of Robb, would be approximately 50 km in length and would include portions of the Pembina River, Embarras River and the Erith River. On July 6, 2012, the Minister of the Environment designated this project and the screening-type environmental assessment to continue under the former Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. On May 15, 2015, the Minister of the Environment terminated the environmental assessment process of the designated project at the request of the proponent. The reserve estimate for the project area is about 177.5 million tonnes of raw coal.

Project Expansion Details

• Status: Cancelled
• Production Capacity:
• Mine expansion size:
• Start Year:
• Source of Financing:

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.