The bituminous thermal coal at Coal Valley is mined from three distinct coal seams, which are found within a 270 metre stratigraphic interval. One of the seams is characterized by fine clay and sandstone partings within the seam, and varies in thickness from 7.9 to 10.7 metres. The other seams range in thickness from 2.4 to 6.7 metres.

The Coal Valley Mine is a 20,660 Ha. surface mine located in West Central Alberta south of the Town of Edson in the Foothills of Alberta. The mine operates both truck/shovel and dragline pits and utilizes a dragline for coal removal. The mine exports bituminous coal to customers in Japan and Korea as well as some domestic coal. The area has a long history of mining and the Coal Valley Mine was opened in 1978 to supply coal to Ontario Hydro and for overseas export.

Coal is uncovered using the two draglines (1- Page 752LR; 1 – M7450) and two truck/shovel fleets.

Dragline Operation
Since inception CVM has utilized a large walking dragline for overburden stripping. This dragline is well suited to moving large volumes of overburden from shallow coal seams at an economical cost. A limitation of the machine is the depth of digging and the operating radius which can move the overburden only within the distance of the swing radius. The low operating cost of this unit makes this a favored mining method but it is suitable only in specific mining circumstances.

The dragline (Page 752LR) is used only in the part of the mine where the terrain is suitable for dragline operations. The dragline removes the overburden above the coal and places it on un-mined land adjacent (on both sides) to the initial cut. The exposed coal is loaded with backhoes haul trucks and delivered to the Plant.

A smaller walking dragline (Marion 7450) works in advanc ........

- subscription is required.

- subscription is required.