On January 1, 2024, in connection with the Steelmaking Coal Business Unit Transactions Teck Resources completed an internal reorganization of the steelmaking coal business unit to align all steelmaking coal assets, including Teck Coal Partnership and Elkview Mining Limited Partnership, under a newly organized Elk Valley Mining Limited Partnership (EVM LP), which directly or indirectly holds 100% of steelmaking coal assets.
On January 3, 2024, Teck completed the NSC and POSCO Transactions, with NSC and POSCO acquiring a 20% and 3% interest, respectively, in EVM LP. Following the NSC and POSCO Transactions, EVM LP now holds a 100% interest in all of the steelmaking coal operations and Teck holds a 77% interest in EVM LP, with NSC and POSCO holding the remaining 20% and 3%, respectively.
On July 11, 2024, Teck Resources Limited completed the sale of its remaining 77% interest in the steelmaking coal business to Glencore plc.
Summary:
The general stratigraphic sequence of the Project area, beginning with the oldest sediments is: Rundle Group, Rocky Mountain Group, Spray River Formation, Fernie Formation, the Kootenay Group and the Blairmore Group [Samuelson 1996].
The Kootenay Group strata, which contain all of the coal seams, consist of the Morrissey Formation, the Mist Mountain Formation and the Elk Formation [Gibson 1979a]. While the entire Kootenay Group has some coal seams within it, technically all the economic seams occur in the Mist Mountain Formation. The Moose Mountain Member of the Morrissey Formation and the Elk Formation lie respectively under and over the main coal-bearing Mist Mountain formation. The Moose Mountain Member is a resistant, generally cliff-forming unit comprised of massive, medium to coarse-grained, medium-gray weathering sandstone. There are commonly two coal horizons within this sandstone, but their small thickness (rarely over one metre) and the overlying massive sandstone make them unattractive for economic consideration. The distinctive nature and prominence of this unit makes it an easily traceable marker horizon throughout the Elk Valley Coalfield of southeastern BC.
The Mist Mountain Formation is the main coal-bearing unit of the Kootenay Group. It overlies the Moose Mountain Member with an abrupt but conformable contact. It is comprised of a generally recessive, interbedded sequence of brownish tinted sandstones, gray to brown siltstones, gray and black shales, gray mudstones and coal seams. In the Elk Coalfield this formation ranges in thickness between 400 and 660 m. The coal seams attain a maximum individual thickness of over 10 m and a lateral extent of several km.
The Elk Formation lies conformably but abruptly over the Mist Mountain Formation. It consists of an interbedded sequence of cliff-forming sandstones, shales and siltstones and thin (less than 1 m), sporadic coal seams.
Burnt Ridge North lies on the west limb of the Alexander Creek Syncline. The strike of the bedding is roughly north-northwest with the dips on the west side of the ridge ranging between 30 and 50 degrees to the east. The dips steepen to the east so that on the east side of the ridge the dips range from 45 degrees to vertical. It appears that initially the beds steepen with depth before flattening to the east into the axis of the Alexander Creek Syncline.
While the major structure of the area is the Alexander Creek syncline, mapping in the area indicates that a myriad of secondary structures have been superimposed on the west limb of the syncline. Folded and faulted areas have been mapped along the east side of Burnt Ridge. These areas are characterized by drag folds in anticline/syncline pairs, minor faulting, crushed and sheared zones and overturned bedding.
There are seven major coal seams occurring in the section ranging from thickness of 1 to 22 m.
At the Line Creek operations, sixteen coal zones (E, D, C, B, A, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10B and 10A, from top to bottom) with a net aggregate thickness of 67.4 metres in 91.7 metres of gross aggregate coal section, occur in the Jurassic-Cretaceous Mist Mountain Formation (440 to 500 metres thick) (Kootenay Group) interbedded with sandstone, shale and siltstone.
The main seams are the 10B seam (average thickness 4.5 metres - thins north); 9 seam (two seams, average thickness 5.4 metres in a 6.4 metre zone - thins north and west); 8 seam (thickest seam - averages 11.6 metres in a 12.8 metre thick coal zone); 7 seam (averages 5.2 to 6.3 metres); 6 seam (two seams average 5.0 metres and 12.0 metres respectively - thickens southwest); 4 seam, which in the south is two seams, 5.0 and 12.5 metres respectively, and in the north is a single thick seam but with a shale split in the northeast, 11.6 and 12.0 metres respectively; 3 lower seam (single or multiple thin seams - 3.3 to 3.8 metres, disappears to the northwest); 3-Upper seam (4.0 to 6.0 metres average thickness, lower 50 to 75 per cent is a single coal seam with thin variable shale splits, upper portion consists of multiple thin coal seams with shale partings); and A seam (2 seams in the south, single thick seam in the north, average thickness is 3.0 to 4.0 metres). The remaining seams are commonly multiple, thinner (less than 3.0 metres) and tend to contain shale partings.
Ash contents range from 5 to 16 per cent (generally 7 to 8 per cent), volatile matter from 19.5 to 30.0 per cent and sulphur from 0.3 to 0.9 per cent (air dried basis). The coal is medium volatile bituminous in rank.