Overview

Mine Type	Open Pit
Status	Inactive / Suspended
Commodities	Coal (hard coking)
Mining Method	Truck & Shovel / Loader
Mine Life	...
Snapshot	Grassy Mountain is on the site of an old mine that closed about five decades ago. The new, open-pit mine that Benga Mining Ltd. proposed for the land forecast production of 93 million tonnes of metallurgical coal over a 23-year life. A joint federal-provincial regulatory panel rejected Benga’s Grassy Mountain application in 2021, finding that the project would likely result in significant adverse effects on the environment and on some First Nations, which outweighed any economic benefits. Northback Holdings Corp., formerly Benga Mining Ltd., is a subsidiary of Australian mining giant Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. It is again eyeing a potential mine at Grassy Mountain, submitting applications to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for a 105-day exploratory drilling program and a request for a water diversion.

Deposit type

• Sedimentary

Summary:

The Montane Subregion occurs on lower slopes and valley bottoms, and its upper boundary is the lower limit of the Subalpine Natural Subregion.  The Project is also located in the Rocky Mountain Foreland Thrust and Fold Belt, within a succession of generally west-dipping thrust faults and associated folds with predominantly west-dipping axial surfaces.  The Project lies between two major thrust faults, in an area of somewhat lesser disturbance.   The coal deposits of the Project area are typical of those for Inner Foothills and Rocky Mountain areas which have been subjected to a relatively high tectonic formation.  Fault offsets are common but fault- bounded plates generally retain normal stratigraphic thicknesses. 

Grassy Mountain coal in the Mist Mountain Formation outcrop occurs in a general north-south direction for a strike length of approximately seven (7) km.  The Mist Mountain Formation consists of 66 to 194 vertical metres of strata and is overlain by prominent, weather-resistant Blairmore conglomerate.  The strata have been strongly folded and faulted, resulting in sediments and coal zones repeated in parallel bands.  Coal deposits of this type are characterized by tight folds, some with steeply inclined or overturned limbs.  Fault offsets are common but fault-bounded plates
generally retain normal stratigraphic thicknesses.

Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Processing

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Production

Operational metrics

Personnel

Job Title	Name	Profile	Ref. Date
.......................	.......................		Sep 28, 2021
.......................	.......................		Sep 28, 2021