Date: January 18, 2018
Location: Sparwood, British Columbia (Canada)
Address: BC-3, V0B 2G1
Type: Dust Explosion
Fuel: Coal Dust
Industry: Coal Mine
Equipment: Coal Dryer
Company: Teck Resources
Previous Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: $5 to $10 million
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
The Elkview Mine is one of five steelmaking coal plants owned and operated by Teck Resources in the Elk Valley of southeastern British Columbia. Teck Resources own 95% of the interest in the Elkview mine with the other 5% split between Japanese and Korean companies. The Elkview mine produces steelmaking coal, otherwise known as metallurgical coal or coking coal, which is used to make steel.
At 100% efficiency, the mine is able to produce approximately 27 million tonnes of clean coal per year. The company began in 1913.
Description of Coal Dryer Explosion:
A British Columbia coal mine will be without a coal dryer for four to six weeks and repairs will be somewhere in the area of $10 million dollars following what the company is calling a “significant pressure event” at the Elkview coal mine on January 18, 2018.
The company insists that the coal dryer venting system “operated as designed, releasing pressure to a safe area outside the building.”
A union executive stated that workers inside the plant reported seeing a “fireball” shoot through the vents inside the building however the company has not acknowledged that the event was an actual explosion. There is significant disagreement between the incident as reported by the company and the incident as reported by the union. According to a spokesperson for the company when speaking with the CBC, “There were no adverse health or environmental impacts. Work is ongoing to assess the extent of the damage and the potential impact on production.”
The company believes that in addition to the $10 million in repairs, they could lose as much as 200,000 tonnes of coal production.
Because of the damage to the coal dryer CIMMagazine reports that the mine is operating at 80% efficiency and is producing higher moisture coal. The company states that following an internal investigation, they will produce or implement whatever processes are necessary as it relates to plant safety. However, union officials are concerned about the company’s record of incidents. The company was fined $1.425 million, according to the CBC, in relation to a 2014 discovery that the company was dumping effluent harmful to fish in a waterway designated as having a high value to fisheries.
An analyst with CIBC told Mining.com that the incident “could cut Teck’s metallurgical coal production this year by 13 percent to about 23.7 million tonnes, while mining and logistics costs will likely rise by about $1 per tonne and capital spending might increase by $100 million.”
In response to the incident the coal miners’ union expressed concern that the explosion was the third serious incident at the mine in less than a year and that they are worried about the safety of workers. CBC reported that there were two smaller but similar incidents in the area of the mine where coal is dried before being loaded on railcars to go to market.
Sources:
CBC
CBC
CBC
CIMMagazine
Mining.com
Mining.com
