Sheerness Coal Mine

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Sheerness mine was operated by Westmoreland Mining LLC in Hanna, Alberta, Canada.

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

Location

The satellite photo below shows the area of the Hanna, Alberta, Canada.

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Background

The Sheerness Mine was a 7,000 Ha. surface strip mine located in South Central Alberta south of the Town of Hanna. The mine operated two active pits and supplied sub-bituminous coal to the two generating units at the Sheerness Generating Station, which is owned by TransAlta Utilities and ATCO Power, and operated by ATCO Power. The mine supplied coal to the station since 1984.

Coal was uncovered using the two draglines (1 – BE 1300; 1 – Page 736). The exposed coal was hauled directly from the mine to the generating station. The mine, which had an annual production of up to 3.4 million tonnes, originally had a coal supply contract through 2026 and even had plans to explore adjacent properties and greenfield opportunities for life extension of the mine to the end of the expected plant lives (2040), however due to coal phase-outs, it's closure cam much sooner.

Mine Retirement

In January 2021, in a joint statement with Heartland Generation, Westmoreland announced the permanent closure of Sheerness Mine due to the pending transition from coal to natural gas conversion at the power plant. By November 2021, Heartland announced that it had completed the transition off-coal at the Battle River and Sheerness Generating Stations, making it the first large-scale generator in Alberta to fully phase out coal-fired generation in favor of cleaner burning natural gas.

During its years of operation, the Sheerness Mine was recognized with numerous company, industry, and government safety awards, including recognition for an almost unprecedented stretch of 25 years without a single lost-time incident.

Project Details

• Owner: Prairie Mines & Royalty ULC (PMRULC)
• Parent company: Westmoreland Mining LLC
• Location: Hanna, Alberta, Canada
• GPS coordinates: 51.5050789,-112.0206939 (exact)
• Mine status: Retired
• Start year: 1984
• Retirement year: 2021
• Mineable reserves: 19.78 million tonnes (Proven and Probable Reserves)
• Coal type: sub-bituminous
• Mine size: 7,000Ha
• Mine type: surface
• Production: 3.3Mt/Annual
• Equipment: dragline
• Number of employees: 110

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