Cardinal River
Our Cardinal River Operations (CRO) include the Luscar and Cheviot mines, as defined by our regulatory permits. The Luscar mine dates back to 1969 when mining began at Cardinal River Coals Limited. Today, the Luscar mine is home to our coal processing plant, maintenance shop, haul road, ongoing reclamation and administrative offices. Reclamation activities continue in the mined areas and some exploration activities are ongoing at the Luscar site. No active mining is occurring in this area.
The Cheviot mine lies along an east-west trending valley centred around the historic town site of Mountain Park, an area rich in coal mining history. An underground mine operated in this area from 1911 to 1952. Within this area there is ongoing exploration, haul roads, progressive reclamation and buildings that support our mining operation.
The Cheviot mine permit is organized into six mining zones which encompass the Cheviot Creek, Prospect, Harris, McLeod, Redcap and Mackenzie pits. In 2004, we received licenses to mine in the Cheviot Creek pit and in 2007 to mine the Prospect pit. In 2010, we received licenses to develop the McLeod pit and parts of the Harris pit.
Coal mined at CRO is primarily steelmaking coal, although a small amount of thermal coal is also produced. The current annual production capacities of the mine and preparation plant are approximately 1.7 and 3.0 million tonnes of clean coal, respectively.
At current planned production rates, CRO is expected to have a mine life of approximately 16 years.
Last updated: April, 2013