The Alberta government's proposed coal mining policy will reportedly require engagement with industry to figure out how to balance mining with environmental protection.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Alberta is developing a new coal policy nearly three years after it instituted a moratorium on coal exploration in the wake of a furious public backlash against mining.
The proposed changes are not yet set in stone but would require any new coal mine to be underground or use technologies that move minimal amounts of overburden – surface materials such as rocks and soil – to prevent selenium leaching into waterways and poisoning fish, wildlife and downstream communities.
But none of the new rules would apply to so-called “advanced” projects such as the controversial Grassy Mountain mine in the Crowsnest Pass, which is being developed by Northback Holdings Corp.
The Alberta Coal Policy Committee, tasked with recommending changes for a modernized policy in 2021, identified three advanced projects in its final report to the government: Grassy Mountain and Tent Mountain (owned by Montem Resources Ltd., now Evolve Power Ltd.) in Southern Alberta and the expansion of the Vista mine by Coalspur Mines Ltd., outside Hinton.
Tent Mountain is no longer proceeding, but applications from Vista and Grassy Mountain are moving through assessments. In the latter’s case, Northback is seeking permission from the Alberta Energy Regulator to conduct coal exploration, drilling and water diversion for activity the company would use to develop project plans.
When asked why the new rules would not apply to Grassy Mountain – particularly since Northback has submitted no mine plans, its former application on the same site having been rejected by a federal-provincial review panel – Energy Minister Brian Jean said the government has contractual relationships it must honour.
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“But we’re going to honour those at the same time we make sure we keep the environment clean,” he said. “Our No. 1 priority is going to be water and people and wildlife, and we’re going to make sure that those things are protected no matter what.”
The government will engage with industry early next year to develop higher standards for coal mining and figure out how to balance that activity with environmental protection, particularly when it comes to water. New regulations and legislation will be drafted for government approval later in 2025.
The government also wants to significantly boost royalty rates as part of the coal policy modernization process.
In a 2021 column in the Calgary Herald, before he was Energy Minister, Mr. Jean wrote that the “minuscule” royalties Alberta receives from coal “must be weighed against the significant environmental risk and the potentially more severe reputational risk” of allowing new mines.
He said Friday that the province needs to ensure royalties are realistic and competitive.
“As a person that’s been in business for a long time, very seldom do I have people come to me and say, ‘Listen, you’re charging us too little.’ Well, I’ve had at least three coal miners tell me over the last number of years that the rates in Alberta are just too low,” he said.
Alberta receives 1 per cent of mine mouth revenue until a project’s cumulative revenues equal or exceed its cumulative costs. After that, the province also gets 13 per cent of a mine’s net revenue.
Mr. Jean said a new figure will come from the consultations with industry.
“But right now, we’re not competitive. We have to bring that rate up so that Albertans recognize that if we’re going to allow this to happen, that they get a true benefit from this – a benefit that provides schools and hospitals and roads,” he said.
The proposed changes do little to ease the concerns of John Smith, a Southern Alberta rancher who has been fighting against coal development along with his wife, Laura Laing, and their neighbours.
“I’m unimpressed. I feel like nothing’s really changed,” Mr. Smith said, adding that the new rules don’t address other water contaminants such as arsenic and cadmium, nor the dangers of the bioaccumulation of coal particulate in crops.
“It’s a pretty simple thing that we think is being asked here: no coal development in the eastern slopes. And we’re just not hearing that.”