Alberta regulator approves coal applications at Grassy Mountain
Thursday's decision is the latest development in a long-running battle over reviving the defunct metallurgical coal mining industry in the Crowsnest Pass. The issue has pitted neighbours and communities against each other, with those who support coal development in the region standing against those who are firmly opposed.
The lead proponent is Northback Holdings Corp., which owns a huge swath of land that was, until the 1960s, teeming with coal mines above and under the ground. It is one of the many companies owned by Hancock Prospecting Pty. Ltd, which is run by Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart – the country's richest person.
None of the approved applications are for a mine proper, but for the kind of exploratory activity that comes before developing a detailed plan to get to the veins of metal-making coal that run deep and plentiful around the Crowsnest Pass.
In an e-mail Thursday evening, Northback thanked the Alberta Energy Regulator for the decision.
'With this outcome, Northback continues our commitment to bring benefits to Albertans while adhering to the highest environmental standards,' the company said.
Northback used to be called Benga Mining Ltd. Under that name, in 2017, the federal and provincial governments accepted its application for an environmental impact assessment of a new surface metallurgical coal mine encompassing about 2,800 hectares of land. It would have produced 4.5 million tonnes of coal annually over a mine life of about 25 years.
A joint federal-provincial panel rejected Benga's plan in 2021, citing significant environmental concerns – which Northback hopes it can address using information gleaned from a drilling program.
The panel's decision was released at a time of intense public backlash over coal mining in Alberta, which forced the government to halt exploration for the fossil fuel on a swath of sensitive land and cancel a series of leases earmarked for potential new mines.
The regulator took the unusual step of sending Northback's latest applications to a full hearing.
Those speaking against the proposals at the hearing included environmentalists concerned about local grizzly and trout populations, ranchers worried about how water use at a future mine and during early-stage drilling would affect an already-parched watershed, and residents of Crowsnest Pass and Piikani First Nation troubled by the potential of air and water contamination from coal dust and selenium.
On the other side were business owners who had already contracted with Northback on early activities, security and gravel companies based on the nearby Piikani First Nation, and Crowsnest Pass residents who said the mine would bring much-needed jobs and economic development to a region with a shrinking tax base.
On Nov. 25, more than half of the residents of the Crowsnest Pass municipality turned out to vote in a non-binding referendum on whether they supported a project to mine steelmaking coal on Grassy Mountain. Close to 72 per cent of them voted 'yes.'
The result held no legal weight, but Councillor Dean Ward, who proposed the vote, said at the time it would give the council social licence to lobby the provincial and federal governments for the mine.
Critics of the project – including the municipal district of Ranchland, where the mine would be located – say the company has no legal right to even pursue the plan. Alberta banned new coal exploration in 2022 amid a public backlash against mines.
The province has since reversed that directive, but not before five coal companies launched a case suing the province for almost $14-billion over the government's flip-flop on mining policies.
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