Overview
Status | Closing / Closed |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
|
Mining Method |
- Dragline
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
|
Production Start | ... |
Active coal mining at TransAlta’s Highvale Mine ceased at the end of December 2021 with the end of coal-fired generation at the Keephills and Sundance power plants. Operations at the Highvale Mine shifted to full-time reclamation in January 2022 with plans to have the Highvale Mine fully reclaimed by 2046.
TransAlta submitted under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (“EPEA”) a combined Decommissioning Plan and Final Reclamation Plan for the Highvale Mine to the Alberta Energy Regulator (“AER”). At the same time, TransAlta filed a 10-year Renewal for the Highvale Mine under EPEA, the Water Act and the Coal Conservation Act in June 2022. |
Source:
p. 36
SunHills Mining LP, a wholly owned subsidiary of TransAlta, assumed operation and management control of the Highvale Mine in 2013.
Contractors
- Subscription is required.
Mining Methods
- Dragline
- Truck & Shovel / Loader
Summary:
Highvale Mine is a surface coal mines, and Canada’s largest surface strip coal mine, covering more than 12,600 hectares.
Highvale has been in operation since 1970. Within this area seven pits are currently licensed and in various stages of mining (pits 03 - 09). TransAlta received a licence to develop, operate and reclaim a new mine pit (pit 09) from the Alberta Energy Regulator in the spring of 2015. Pit 09 is located south of pit 08 and northeast of the North Saskatchewan River.
Surface coal mining involves salvaging of topsoil and subsoil for later replacement, then removing overlying rock layers to expose and extract coal reserves, followed by reclamation of the mined area. Highvale operates four draglines for this purpose.
Approximately 13 million tonnes of low-sulphur-content thermal-grade coal are mined at Highvale each year.
Summary:
Approximately 13 million tonnes of lowsulphur content thermalgrade coal are mined at Highvale each year and delivered to TransAlta’s Sundance and Keephills thermal generating plants. The Keephills 3 thermal plant began commercial operations in 2011 requiring an additional 1.8 million tonnes each year.
The Sundance power plant is the largest coal fired electrical generating facility in western Canada, with six generating units. A 53 megawatt uprate to Sundance 5 was completed in 2009 at a cost of $75 million. Additionally, a 44-megawatt uprate was completed on Sundance 6 in 2001 and a 53-megawatt uprate on Sundance 4 in 2007.
In May 2015, TransAlta completed a 15-megawatt uprate on Sundance 3.
Keephills 3, the 495-megawatt gross (MW) coal fired generating facility, the most advanced coal-fired plant ever built in Canada, began commercial operation on September 1, 2011.
Production:
Commodity | Units | 2018 * |
Coal (thermal)
|
Mt
| 8 * |
* Average annual production reported in 2018
- Subscription is required.
Operational Metrics:
Metrics | 2015 |
Annual mining capacity
| 13 Mt of ROM coal |
Mine Management:
Job Title | Name | Profile | Ref. Date |
.......................
|
.......................
|
|
Nov 30, 2023
|
- Subscription is required.
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
- Subscription is required.
- Subscription is required.