Fording River Operations

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

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Fording River Operations is an operating coal mine in Elkford, British Columbia, Canada.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Fording River Operations	Elkford, British Columbia, Canada	50.19284, -114.86473 (exact)

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

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1971	–

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
9	7.994	2022	Surface	Open Pit	198	60*	1100

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
353.2	–	2011.9	–	Bituminous	Met	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Teck Coal Partnership	Teck Resources Ltd [100.0%]	Canada

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	8	8	8	6	9	8	–

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
Proposed	Pre-Permit	Extension	–	1	–

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

Fording River Operations is a coal mine near Elkford, British Columbia, Canada. Originally designed as a 3Mt/y operation, Fording River began production in 1971 and made its first shipment of metallurgical coal in April 1972.

• Owner: Teck Coal
• Parent company: Teck Resources
• Location: Elkford, British Columbia, Canada
• GPS coordinates:50.19284, -114.86473 (exact)
• Mine status: Operating
• Start year: 1971
• Production: 7.9 million tonnes per annum (2017); 8.4 million tonnes (2021)
• Mineable reserves: 79 million tonnes
• Coal type: Met, bituminous
• Mine size:
• Mine type: Surface
• Equipment:
• Number of employees:1,100

Proposed Extension

In 2020, Teck Coal put forth the Fording River Extension Project, a proposed extension of the existing Fording River steelmaking coal mine. The Project represents an opportunity to extend the lifespan of Fording River from the mid-2020s through to the early 2070s.

Teck submitted the Detailed Project Description to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office in July 2021 and anticipates final provincial and federal assessment decisions would be released late-2023, and, if positive decisions are received, permitting decisions in 2024. This would be followed by construction of the project with target for operations in 2027. Mining operations would then continue for several decades. By the early 2030s, all steelmaking coal for Fording River Operations would come from the project.

In September 2021, Teck received the green light from the B.C. Environmental Assessment office to expand its Fording River coal mine near the Alberta border.

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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.