Paintearth Coal Mine

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Paintearth coal mine was a surface mine operated by Prairie Mines and Royalty, a subsidiary of Westmoreland Coal, in Forestburg, Alberta, Canada.

In 2021, Westmoreland announced the permanent closure of Paintearth due to the pending transition from coal to natural gas conversion at the power plant.

Location

The satellite photo below shows the mine in Forestburg, Alberta, Canada.

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Background

The mine is owned by Westmoreland Resources.

Mine Retirement

In January 2021, in a joint statement with Heartland Generation, Westmoreland announced the permanent closure of Paintearth Mine due to the pending transition from coal to natural gas conversion at the power plant.

As of June 2022, Paintearth Mine has moved into reclamation mode after supplying up to 3 million tonnes annually of production to the Battle River Generating Station over more than six decades. According to Westmoreland, Paintearth is currently the site of a project in cooperation with Alberta Innovates, EPCOR Water Services and environmental consulting firm SYLVIS. The initiative employs municipal organic waste from Edmonton to replenish soil and thereby demonstrate the potential of fast-growing willow as a sustainable biomass/green energy feedstock.

Project Details

• Operator: Prairie Mines and Royalty
• Owner: Westmoreland Resources
• Location: Forestburg, Alberta, Canada
• GPS coordinates: 52.457963, -112.161765 (exact)
• Mine status: Retired
• Production: 2.7 million tonness per year
• Start year: 1956
• Retirement year: 2021
• Mineable reserves: 18 million tonnes
• Coal type: Subbituminous (Thermal)
• Mine size: 6,226 Ha
• Mine type: Surface
• Equipment:
• Number of employees: 127

Articles and resources

Related GEM.wiki articles

• Canada and coal

External articles

[[Category: coal mines]]