Special Features - Mining Week 2016

Celebrating Mining in The Elk Valley

141A Aspen, Sparwood, BC V0B 2G0(250) 425-2423http://sparwoodchamber.bc.ca/

Mining Week luncheon Friday, May 13thwith keynote speaker the Hon. Bill Bennett, MLA, Minister of Energy and Mines

Coal mine tours running all weekPlease call Chamber to register for luncheon or sign up for free tours.

May 8 - 14, 2016

MiningWEEK

Photos: Teck

Celebrating Mining WeekMay 8–14, 2016

Teck is proud to recognize the skills and dedication of our employees, contractors and suppliers during B.C. Mining Week 2016.

Thank you for your valuable contribution to the mining industry in B.C.

For a full list of Mining Week activities:

www.miningweek.ca

B2 THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, May 5, 2016 Mining Week ~ May 8 to 14

With 150 years of history—from placer

mining and our aggregate industry, to our coal and metal mines—there is plenty to celebrate this Mining Week, May 8-14, 2016.

Each year every single British Columbian uses almost 50,000 pounds of mined products – mining is not only critical to the 50 rural communities that rely on it, but contributes hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue that helps pay for government services like health care and education and is critical to B.C.’s future economic success.

Although the industry has been experiencing a global downturn, B.C.’s mineral exploration and mining industry continues to prove its resilience. Even in today’s challenging context, B.C. has an

excellent story to tell. In 2015, B.C. accounted for 19 per cent of Canadian exploration i n v e s t m e n t —compared to just six per cent in 2001.

Our province also saw $272 million spent on mineral exploration in 2015, more than eleven times higher than the amount spent in 2001.

Those of us who live in the Kootenays know that B.C. coal will play a big role in the clean energy movement. Over 95 per cent of coal mined in B.C. is a high-quality grade of steel-making or coking coal which will be used in the future manufacturing of electric cars, wind towers and solar farms.

Not only does B.C. continue to see consistent high investment in exploration, but we have a number of permits being processed in

preparation for the future turn-around in commodity prices. One of the best indicators of success is seeing a mineral discovery successfully move through permitting and into mine construction and production. In fact, B.C. has five new mines today that we did not have in 2011, and two more new mines being constructed right now.

In this competitive investment world, investors appraise the efficiency of a jurisdiction’s permitting and regulatory systems before risking venture capital. Our government continues to take strategic steps to ensure timely permitting in order to prepare for the next upswing in the mineral and coal development c y c l e — w h i l e continuing to honour our commitment to responsible and

sustainable resource development.

That commitment is present in the area-based management plan for the Elk Valley. Working with Teck, we’ve developed a billion dollar plan that will see the installation of nine active water treatment plants over the next 18 years to stabilize and reverse water quality trends and reduce selenium levels valley-wide.

Mining Week is a celebration of B.C.’s mining industry – one that impacts all British C o l u m b i a n s — a n d our government is doing all that it can to ensure the industry continues to bring economic prosperity to every region of our province. Together, government and the mining industry will continue to build a thriving sector across British Columbia and deliver the metals to the world that all of us use every day.

Mining Week Minister’s Message

THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, May 5, 2016 B3Mining Week ~ May 8 to 14

First celebrated in 1996, National Mining Week

recognizes the importance of the Canadian mining industry to the economic development of Canada.

It is a chance to celebrate the important role that mining plays in the lives of Canadians. It is hard to imagine a life without minerals and metals — every day, we all use and rely on products made from them.

Mining takes place in almost every province and territory in Canada — creating jobs and business opportunities, and supporting industries and workers from rural, remote and Aboriginal communities to our large urban centres.

British Columbia’s mining and mineral exploration industry

has a rich history and a promising future. B.C. has been one of the world’s major mining regions since the mid-1800s and to this day is a key international player.

Encompassing the largest part of the Canadian Cordillera, a mountain belt rich in minerals and coal, B.C. produces and exports a significant amount of copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, molybdenum, coal and industrial minerals every year.

Historically, B.C.’s vast mineral resources have contributed extensively to the province’s growth and development.

The Hudson’s Bay Company first started producing coal on Vancouver Island in the 1840s, and the discovery of gold along the Fraser River in the

1850s sparked a major gold rush, which was ultimately responsible for the settlement of many parts of that region.

As B .C. ’ s population increased, the provincial i n f r a s t r u c t u r e improved, and miners were able to explore more and more of the

province’s terrain, leading to many new mineral deposit discoveries.

Throughout the century following the Fraser River Gold Rush, most mining activities in British Columbia took place underground. But in the early 1960s, the feasibility of open-pit

production increased tremendously, and as a result, several huge copper mines opened, including Highland Valley Copper—the largest open-pit operation in all of North America, and, of course, the coal mines here in the Elk Valley.

Celebrating Mining Week The importance of mining to Canada’s economy

Teck photo

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Teck’s achievements in sustainabilityFor the sixth

consecutive year, Teck has been

named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI), indicating that Teck’s sustainability practices rank in the top 10 per cent of the 2,500 largest companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index (BMI).

World Index rankings are based on an in-depth analysis of economic, social and environmental performance. Teck received the highest possible score in areas including biodiversity and asset closure management, and scored the highest in the industry in talent attraction and retention and operational eco-efficiency.

Earlier in 2016, Teck was ranked as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations by media and investment research firm Corporate Knights for the fourth consecutive year, and was the second-ranked Canadian company on the list. For the third straight year, Teck was also named one of the Best 50 Corporate

Citizens in Canada by Corporate Knights and one of the Top 50 Socially Responsible Corporations in Canada by global responsible investment research firm Sustainalytics, based on a range of measures including key social and environmental indicators.

“We know that the success of our business is dependent on our ability to develop

resources in a way that is responsible and sustainable for communities and the environment,” said Don Lindsay, Teck President and CEO.

“That is why we continue to integrate social, economic and environmental performance into every decision we make .”

Teck was awarded several accolades for its sustainability achievements Photo courtesy of TECK


Surface mining is the form of coal mining used in

the Elk Valley because the coal belt is not far under the ground. Giant machines like bulldozers, bucket excavators, and large trucks remove the topsoil and rocks to expose large beds of coal which need to be dug out.

Explosives are first used in order to break through the surface, or overburden, of the mining area.

Blasting for coal is an integral part of the mine operations. Elkview and Fording River have their own explosives plant to supply product to the rest of the mines in the valley. As in all mining operations, many people are involved to ensure that it is conducted safely. There are four electric drills. The drills make holes 34 cm in diameter that are 17 m deep, and are able to drill 30 to 60 cm per minute. The drill holes are loaded with explosives and then blasted. The holes are placed in a surveyed pattern of approximately nine meters by 10.4 meters. There are 250 to 400

holes per blast. The holes with water in them are lined with plastic to keep the powder dry. The explosives are made up of 94 per cent ammonium nitrate and six per cent diesel. Blasts are done three to four times per week, equaling 150 to 200 times per year. The cost per hole is about $175,

making blasting the third largest expense after wages and fuel.

A shovel and truck operation is used to remove overburden and coal. The overburden is first drilled and then blasted. After the blast, the overburden is taken to one of the numerous dumps. The coal is either taken to the pit hopper where it is transported by an overland conveyor belt to the breaker station, or it is taken to the breaker station directly. It may also be put to stockpile for later use. At the breaker station, the coal is separated from the rock using a rotary drum. The rotary drum has 2 inch holes in it. The coal breaks up and falls through the holes. Because the rock is harder it does not

break up and flows out the end. This is the first stage of separation. From there, the coal is put on the raw coal belt that is over a metre wide and travels through a tunnel in the mountain for 1.5 km to the preparation plant. Here, raw coal is further cleaned by means of heavy media separation, cyclone

classification, and froth flotation. Currently, 30,000 tonnes of raw coal goes through the plant every operating day. This results in approximately 20,000 tonnes of clean coal and 10,000 tonnes of reject.

To expose one tonne of clean coal, between eight and nine cubic meters of waste rock is moved.

In 24 hours, workers can remove 317,000 tonnes of rock and 24,000 tonnes of raw coal. This means that in one year, they mine 116 million tonnes of rock and 8.8 million tonnes of raw coal which produces about 5.2 million tonnes of coking coal once it has been cleaned in the processing plant.

In the processing plant, coal is sorted by size and then cleaned.

After washing, the

coal is conveyed to the dryer to reduce the moisture content. The steam that comes out of the dryers is mostly water with a few particles in it. On top of the district building

in Sparwood is a monitor that measures the amount of dust in the air. The coal comes in with 25 per cent ash content and leaves with a 9.5 per cent ash content.

30 per cent of the coal feed to the plant is rejected and placed in waste piles called coarse coal reject or tailing impoundments.

After the coal goes through the dryer, it goes to the clean coal silos. Each silo can hold 12,500 tonnes of clean coal. From the clean coal silos, the coal is loaded onto the trains using a frontend/backend system. The train cars are loaded directly under the silos. Each train has 115 to 124 cars and each car can hold about 107 tonnes of coal. Elkview’s loop track limits the length of a train which can be loaded, in order to allow the front end to pass the back end. After the coal is loaded onto the cars, the cars stop at the spray shack. Here they are topped with a layer of tackifier to prevent dusting during travel.

On average, about five trains full of coal leave the Elk Valley mines each day before coming back empty. The round trip takes about 80 hours. Teck's mines in the Elk Valley share a fleet of about 38 trains, carrying the coal across B.C. to Vancouver where it is shipped to Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Brazil and Turkey.

Coal processing

“To expose one tonne of clean coal, between eight and nine cubic

meters of waste rock is moved.“

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A young red-tailed hawk found with a broken wing at Elkview

Operations near Sparwood was rehabilitated and successfully released back into nature in July 2015.

It’s thought that the one-year-old hawk—given the name Florence after her rescue—was in her first few weeks away from her mother when Cal Moulton, a member of Elkview’s Road Crew, spotted the injured bird next to the plant road in July 2014.

From there, EVO environment team members Rick Magliocco, Casandra Knooihuizen and Rosemary Dykhuizen went into action, bringing Florence to safety and making arrangements for her to be transferred to the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (O.W.L.) in Delta, British Columbia.

She spent a year at the renowned centre, recovering from her injury and then learning to fly once again.

O.W.L. rehabilitates up to 500 birds of prey every year from across B.C. with the goal of preparing them to return to the wild. There are also 40

permanent residents used for education and as foster parents if chicks or eggs are brought in, and a 24/7 hotline is available for anyone who finds an injured bird of prey.

O.W.L. Bird Care Supervisor Martina Versteeg said that once Florence’s wing healed, she spent time in a 50-foot long cage that allowed her to learn to fly and hunt.

“Her wing healed but was a bit stiff and wasn’t being used to its full extent, so we had her stay for longer than usual while

she got her strength back,” said Versteeg. “Red-tailed hawks are one of the most common varieties in North America, so we had a number of others with Florence during her time here. She was able to spend lots of time watching their behaviour and interacting with them.”

One year later, in July 2015, Florence was once again back in the care of Elkview’s environment officers. Together, Casandra Knooihuizen and Jeff Williams released her on the edge of Elkview’s property in a

known red-tailed hawk habitat area.

“We hope she is doing well out there,” says Versteeg. “She will be of breeding age in the next year, so hopefully she will soon have a family of her own.”

Of the rescue efforts, Elkview Operations General Manager Don Sander expressed his appreciation: “Thank you to the employees and those at O.W.L. who went to so much effort to make sure Florence could be released. We look forward to seeing her thrive back at home at Elkview.”

Rescued hawk returns home with the help of Elkview Operations

Casandra with Florence - Elkview Environmental Officer, Casandra Knooihuizen, is pictured preparing to release Florence after her rehabilitation. Photo courtesy of TECK

Florence’s release flight - Florence, a red-tailed hawk, was released back into the wild at Elkview Operations near Sparwood, after recovering from a broken wing. Photo courtesy of TECK

Supporting safer snowmobilingMany of Teck’s

operations in British Columbia

are located in areas with abundant outdoor recreational opportunities for every season. In the Elk Valley, biking, hiking and fishing are popular this time of year, but come the winter, backcountry snowmobiling is a favourite activity among many residents.

While the sport allows snowmobilers to experience the beauty of the natural surroundings, there are hazards, particularly related to avalanches. So in 2011, Teck began supporting Avalanche Canada in their development of public safety initiatives aimed at backcountry users in the region.

“Since the beginning of our relationship, Teck has demonstrated a tremendous commitment to public avalanche safety,” said Gilles Valade, Executive Director of Avalanche Canada. “This has resulted in a highly successful collaboration benefiting local communities.”

The first initiative developed through the partnership was a snowmobile safety forum called Sledhead Thinktank. Eight Sledhead Thinktank sessions were held in Blairmore, Elkford, Sparwood and Fernie, with over 300 snowmobilers attending to discuss and learn about avalanche safety. Participants were also offered avalanche safety training courses.

In the next phase of the program in 2012, Teck sponsored Avalanche Canada’s South Rockies Field Observer Program, a team of three avalanche technicians who travel through the region on snowmobile and skis, collecting weather, snowpack and avalanche observation data. This information helps Avalanche Canada produce daily forecasts for the region, which spans the border between B.C. and Alberta. They are also able to focus their attention on terrain that may have higher avalanche risk during particular weather conditions.

Over the years, the program has

been expanded to include additional safety programs for backcountry skiers and sledders.

“Before this team was created, snow data on avalanche risks was only available for small parts of the backcountry,” said Nic Milligan, Manager, Community and Aboriginal Affairs of Teck Coal. “The Field Observer team operates in a wide area—from parking lots to mountaintops—building relationships with local riders and gathering land users’ observations. This helps them build the most comprehensive picture of what’s happening out there day-to-day while strengthening the overall culture of avalanche awareness.”

Another way the team reaches people is through their popular regional blogs, available at Avalanche.ca.

Of the Avalanche Canada programs, Tammy Ogden, Community Liaison for Teck Coal said, “Through these public meetings, school visits, and social media, we have been able to raise awareness around avalanche safety, helping to keep residents and Teck employees informed as they partake in some of the many activities this region has to offer.”

Avalanche Canada field observer team member, Jennifer Coulter, tests the snow pack in the backcountry to assess avalanche conditions. Photo by Raven Eye Photography


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A truck with a colourful pastAnyone driving

past Sparwood would struggle

to miss the town’s biggest, greenest tourist attraction.

It might not be the world’s largest truck anymore, but the Terex Titan in Sparwood is still drawing curious

tourists off Highway 3 to have their photo taken next to it.

Although now it is just a reason for motorists to pull over, the “big green truck” was once a fully operational mine truck.

The 3,000hp Terex Titan (at that time Terex was part of GM) first appeared in 1974, and was the only one of its type ever built. It was built in GM’s London, Ontario plant, and could haul a load of 320 tonnes. Not only was it somewhat unusual being a six-wheeler it was also the biggest dump, highest

capacity haul truck in existence for 25 years until the debut of the 360 tonne capacity Caterpillar 797 in September 1998.

These days, CAT, Komatsu and Liebherr have all made larger mining trucks, but the Belarusian mining equipment manufacturer, BelAZ, set a Guinness record last year with its dump truck called the 75710, a 27-foot, eight-wheel truck able to carry 450 tonnes.

The Titan first started work for Kaiser Steel in its Eagle Mountain iron mine in late 1974. At this mine the

Titan suffered from downtime problems but eventually hauled some three-and-a-half million tonnes of earth until 1978.

In late 1978 it was then brought to Kaiser Steel’s Sparwood mine in Canada. The truck was too large to be moved by road, so it arrived by train on eight flatbed cars. It was re-assembled and driven to the mine.

In 1983 the mine was renamed Westar Mining, and the Titan also changed colours from lime green to Westar’s blue and yellow.

Shortly after, Westar

directly purchased the Titan from General Motors, for US$200 thousand and $1 million in spare parts.

Westar finally retired the Titan in 1991.

It was then put on public display in Sparwood in 1993. The Sparwood Chamber of Commerce s u b s e q u e n t l y established a fundraising effort for the restoration of the Titan. The engine has since been removed and last year the truck got spruced up with a fresh lick of bright green paint!

The Titan in Sparwood. Photo from The Free Press files


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By John Kinnear

Last month the anniversary of the Balmer North mine explosion passed relatively unnoticed but I know many in the mining community have this date and

this tragic event permanently fixed in their memories. The good news is that the District of Sparwood and a special committee are working hand in hand in preparation for a full commemoration of this event next April. So let’s look back at some of this disaster’s details as we move towards this important 50th anniversary acknowledgement.

According to Provincial Deputy Chief Inspector of Mines R.B.Bonar, it travelled 4400 feet in three seconds or 996 miles per hour. That’s how fast the deadly blast was going that battered the 22 afternoon shift coal miners entering the Balmer North mine just east of Sparwood B.C. April 3rd, 1967. The time of the blast was exactly 3:59 p.m., a fact determined by an electrical fault that was registered at the Elko generating station some 30 miles to the west. The fault was caused by flying debris from wooden structures outside the entry that hit the conductors of the 66,000 volt power line immediately below the Balmer North entry. With that blast came all sorts of debris from deep inside Balmer North, a mine that had only just been opened a year prior. Power cables, timbers, chunks of coal and rock, conveyor belting and a toxic cloud of smoke and gases belched out its entries and rolled out across the Michel Creek valley. Those Michel miners just starting their shift had literally climbed into the wrong end of a shotgun barrel and fate had pulled the trigger at the other end.

Balmer North was one of a new generation of coal mines springing up back then, mines that utilized powerful mechanical miners capable of cutting 10 tons of coal in 60 seconds. It was part of a modern approach to mining that was replacing the conventional miner and his air pick with machines, conveyor belts and powerful electric motors.

This terrible disaster struck at the Michel\Natal\Sparwood community only nine days after a tragic car crash had taken the lives of seven of its own. An already numbed community was then forced to endure the pain that Coal Creek, Spring Hill, Hillcrest, Nanaimo, Bellevue and a host of other mining communities had suffered in the past. The event that every mother or wife of a coal miner lives in dread of. That day when their man doesn’t come home from the mine.

The mines mostly took them one or two at a time back then. A cave-in here, a bump there. They whittled away at the men slowly, inexorably, year after year, unnerving everyone with each fatality. Always hidden in the back of their minds was the thought that it had been a while and who would be claimed next.

While some were surprised that such a loss could occur in more modern mining times, others were not. There had been complaints about dangerous dust levels despite rock dusting which was supposed to render the coal dust incombustible. While testing of rock dusted zones revealed the same, there was an inherent problem in transporting the coal. Because of the friability and dustiness of the coal being carried by conveyor belt a ready source of coal dust was always present throughout some entries despite the rock dusting. In Balmer there were no less than four mechanical miners running at the same time.

As in most western coal mines there was also the threat of a gas build-up somewhere where ventilation couldn’t dissipate it properly. Underground coal mining usually involves a complicated ventilation plan where fresh air is directed past inactive areas to the active ones. Air is forced up and down, over and under passageways and sometimes, as in Balmer, additional smaller fans inside are required to pull the air into the “face” where the men are working. With mechanical miners coal is mined so

fast that gas released from the coal can build up rather quickly. The official opinion offered by R.B. Bonar, in his report, was that “the short-circuiting of the air from No. 1 entry to the lower roads wherein the continuous miner and shuttle car were working allowed gas to accumulate in the gob area”.

The gob is a mining term that refers to a pillared area that has caved as the mining retreats away from it. Bonar went on to say that in all probability a fall of rock in the gob caused an incendiary spark or sparks that ignited the gas in the gob which in turn initiated the coal-dust explosion.

One spark (the hammer strikes the bullet), the gas ignites (the bullet’s primer explodes), the gas flares and causes the coal dust to explode (the gun powder goes off) and a horrendous flash rips through the mine carrying all sorts of debris with it (the pellets charge down the barrel).

When it was over 15 miners lay dead and 10 were injured, some quite severely. Thirteen of the fatalities were no more than 500 feet into the rock tunnel return airway when they were hit. The other two were deeper in the mine working overtime, doing repairs at #765 mechanical miner’s location. Had the blast occurred minutes earlier most of those 25 men would have still been outside and probably survived. It also follows that had it occurred minutes later than it did, more than just the 15 would have died.

One family’s story from Balmer North is that of the Savilow’s. You won’t find Bill Savilow’s name on that injured Balmer list but you will find the name Larion Savilow, Bill’s father. Larion (Larry) was heading in that entry that fateful day and suffered serious head injuries from the blast. Come to think of it, almost all the fatalities or injuries in the rock tunnel were from head injuries that day which is testimony to the deadly clutter contained within that whirlwind from hell.

Up until 6 weeks before the Balmer tragedy Bill Savilow had been an operator on one of the continuous miner crews that was caught in that nightmare. He had been transferred at that time to “C” Seam Mine where he was injured by a rock fall. Bill had just returned to work and was fresh off of night shift when Balmer blew. The first thought in his mind then was: “My God, Dad’s afternoon shift”. He tore up to the mine and in short order commandeered an old panel truck which was used to transport two of the injured, Bob Clegg and Herb Parsons, to the Michel Hospital. On arriving there, stretcher in hand, he heard and recognized the moans of his seriously injured father already in the hospital which totally unnerved him. One can hardly imagine the feelings

Famous Frank Mitchell photo taken at time of the blast.

Mine rescue team emerging from Balmer North entry.

Tragedy in Michel Creek Valley

A look at the history of the 1967


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that ran through Bill then not knowing if his father, whom he had worked with underground many times, would survive or not.

Larion Ivanoff Savilow was a veteran miner. A survivor. He came to the Elk Valley as an 18 year old immigrant and worked in Corbin for almost seven years before the big strike of 1935 shut the place down. I’ve talked to miners who remember walking in ankle deep coal dust in Corbin. It was a scary place. He toughed it out for two years after the strike at Corbin before moving to Michel. He was 61 and had worked 30 years in Michel when Balmer North struck him down. Larion, Bill tells me, was never the same after recovering in a Vancouver Hospital from his head trauma. He decided he could not live in Michel anymore, so close to that place that had claimed so many comrades including his dear friend and hunting partner Guido (Guy) Venzi. He moved to Fernie, never went underground again and lived another 10 years before passing suddenly at the age of 71. Bill Savilow, his son, never worked underground again either. He’d had his fill of it all. The gas, the coal dust, the rock falls, the close calls, the complacent management, the

whole damn unpredictability of it all.

Another man’s story from Balmer North is that of Gerald Clarke. Gerald was one of those 10 injured in the first few hundred feet of Balmer North’s return airway. A Coleman man, Gerald had worked underground most of his life. He was born in Bankhead (an old coal mining town in Banff National Park) in 1911 and eventually came to the Pass and worked at the International Coal and Coke Company mine in Coleman. When the International was struggling with work one or two days a week in 1955 Gerald moved on to Coal Creek Mines in Fernie until their closure in 1957.

He then went to work in Michel and had been there about 10 years when Balmer blew. Gerald sustained extremely serious head injuries including a fractured skull that day as did the other nine. He was rushed to the Michel Hospital and within 48 hours found himself being examined by a neurosurgeon in the Calgary General Hospital. It took over 100 stitches to close up the wounds in his head and his daughter Gerri Gettman told me he carried around Michel “shrapnel” from the blast until the day he died.

The last thing Gerry remembers

from that day was hanging onto a timber and hollering at the continuous miner crew he worked with to “run for it”. While hospitalized he continued to ask and worry about a young miner named Fred Churla who worked with him. What he finally came to realize was that Fred didn’t make it to work that day

thereby escaping certain injury and possibly even death. A twist of fate saved one of the finest hockey players ever to step onto a Pass rink.

The news of the other two Coleman fatalities, Ronald Freng and Walter Gibalski (a close personal friend) was kept from him for some time.

Gerald underwent, as did other injured that day, a personality change from the severe head trauma. Gerri, his daughter said this quiet placid man became moody and prone to outbursts.

Gerald Clarke went underground only one more day after recovering to prove to himself and the Workman’s Compensation Board that he could. He wanted to go back underground but was refused and spent the next eight years working above ground at the Michel Mine assay lab until his retirement in 1976. While Gerald Clarke passed away in 1977, a full 10 years after that fateful day, his

family has always maintained his injuries from 1967 contributed to his early death at the age of 66.

There were other fatalities in other Michel mines that year. And the year before. And the year after. In 1969 a flood in Balmer #1 Mine claimed three and left three others trapped for a horrific 84 hours until their rescue. That’s three and a haf days of living hell!

It’s been 49 years since that fateful day but the memories are as fresh as ever for many. I guess the coal mining community probably thought that Balmer North would be the last bad one. Then, in 1992, Westray reared its ugly, tragic head in Nova Scotia and the same scenario killed 26 men.

The days of serious loss of life underground have mercifully almost come to a close. There aren’t many underground coal mines left and as a third generation miner I hope and pray that an incident like Balmer North won’t ever happen again.

Transformer bank on Number 3 Main showing force of the explosion.

Portion of the official accident plan showing where Venzi and Quarin were found

Balmer North mine explosion

B10 THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, May 5, 2016 Mining Week ~ May 8 to 146 THE FREE PRESS, Thursday, May 12, 2011 Mining Week ~ May 8 to 14

CoalThe Early Years

Photos courtesy of the Fernie and District Historical Society.For information visit the museum at

362B Victoria Avenue (2nd Avenue), Fernie,www.ferniemuseum.com ~ email [email protected]

or call 250-423-7016

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CoalThe Early Years

Photos courtesy of the Fernie and District Historical SocietyFor information visit the museum at

491 Victoria Avenue (2nd Avenue), FernieFerniemuseum.com ~ [email protected]

or call 250-423-7016

18981899

19071912

1910

1940

1919

19621962

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FERNIECHRYSLER

250-423-5532 • www.ferniechrysler.com • Always on Your Side!Hours: Monday to Friday, 8am-6pm Saturdays, 9am-4pm

Recognizing the Importance of Mining in the Elk Valley

We’re Moving! Visit us soon at our New Location!

1492 Highway 3

The Miners’ Walk

Visitors to Fernie with an interest in the history of mining in

the Elk Valley are now able to learn from an outdoor exhibit.

The Miners’ Walk is located right outside City Hall, and is a great chance for tourists to find out a little bit about the coal mining story in the Elk Valley.

The highlight of the exhibition is a large sculpture created by internationally known artist Jeff de Boer. The sculpture consists of individual shapes set on pedestals. As the visitor walks round the exhibition, the shapes appear to be random, but then when the visitor reaches the

right spot, they come together to reveal a larger than life miner’s face.

As well as the sculpture, there are colourful signs and information on the importance and history of coal mining in the valley.

“The Miners’ Walk tells the whole story of the importance of mining and the powerful effect it has had in shaping what Fernie is today,” said Miners’ Walk committee member Mary Giuliano.

“This was done by creating an outdoor exhibit that is compelling, enduring and attractive. From this, people

will gain a respect for what happened in the past, is happening now and will be part of creating a positive future.”

The Miners’ Walk is situated on the City Hall property, the original coal company office, in the heart of Fernie’s community.

“The exhibit tells the story of significant players in coal mining in the area, and describes the geology and natural and human history of the Fernie area as it relates to coal mining,” said Giuliano.

“If it wasn’t for mining, Fernie wouldn’t be here.”


It’s a bright, sunny April day in British Columbia’s Elk

Valley. As members of the Greenhills mine rescue team assemble, they seem not to notice the cold wind that’s howling across the site.

Their attention is focused entirely on Luc Coultry, Emergency P r e p a r e d n e s s Coordinator, as he outlines the mock scenario they are about to work through in preparation for the upcoming East Kootenay Zone Surface Mine Rescue and First Aid Competition.

Luc quickly goes through the details of the scenario they have before them: a light truck has collided with a passenger van, both drivers are unresponsive, the passenger van’s driver’s side door is inaccessible, and tanks in one of the vehicles are leaking an unknown substance.

The team captain, Pete Race, quickly organizes the team and dispatches them to secure the scene and assess the patients. The 20 minutes that follow are loud and tense as the team members shout updates and

questions among themselves and to their captain.

The team’s actions demonstrate hours and hours of training being

put into practice, a team that is both highly skilled and supportive of each other, and the conditioning required to perform any number of

physically demanding manoeuvers.

The scenarios the team work through draw on a wide range of their skills. To

develop these skills, each team member undergoes rigorous annual training and testing both in first aid and specialized mine rescue techniques.

And while some of this effort takes place on-site, much of it is done outside of shift.

“Each team member makes a huge

commitment when they join mine rescue,” says Luc. “It’s not something you join, take a test once and then just go out and do. Everyone on this

team— and every mine rescue team—studies, trains and practices tirelessly. We have to be ready for anything at all times.

Our co-workers are counting on us and there’s a lot at stake.”

This day’s exercise was practice. But what about when it’s real? How does the

team focus on the task and not the person who might be a close co-worker or family friend?

Acknowledging that

this can be one of the hardest parts about mine rescue, Luc points out, “We work really hard so that if it’s a real-life situation, the training takes over,

not emotion. That said, emotion has an important part to play, and it’s something we work through with the team following an incident.”

Emotion was the word of the day a few weeks earlier at the annual in-house banquet held after the Mine Rescue competition. Members from each of the site’s four crews gathered to celebrate the day of competing, living up to the site mine rescue motto of ‘No Rescue Too Tough’, and to take a few minutes to reflect on their own personal experience.

“Each team member brings something different to mine rescue,” noted Luc.“Some bring a strong desire to help, while others do it because they know first-hand how important a strong mine rescue program is. Regardless, every member of every team is a hero in their own way and knows that ultimately our job is to do what it takes to help make sure everyone goes home safe and healthy every day.”

Teck’s mine rescue teams from the Elk Valley participated in numerous mine rescue competitions in 2015.

The 94th East Kootenay Zone Surface Mine Rescue and First Aid Competition in Elkford, B.C. on May 9, 2015 saw teams tested on five skills: first aid, fire, bench, rope and an extrication.

Elkview and Greenhills took first and second places, respectively, in the first aid competition while Elkview and Line Creek placed first and second in the mine rescue category.

Elkview Operations competed in the 60th Annual Provincial Mine Rescue and First Aid Competition held in Smithers, B.C. on June 13 2015, in the surface mine rescue category, taking home the EKMISA Trophy for the best written exam performance.

In September, 2015, 18 teams from across Canada and the U.S. competed in the National Western Regional Mine Rescue Competition (NWRMRC) 12th Biennial in Fernie, B.C. The competition was split into two categories—surface and underground competitions—and allowed teams to showcase a variety of skills.

The Elkview Operations Mine Rescue team—the Albatrosses—won the Surface Practical Skills Task, the Surface Smoke Task and the Surface Overall Competition.

Mine rescue training at Teck

Elk Valley Mine Rescue in 2015

Members of Greenhills Mine Rescue team pose for a photo during training for the East Kootenay Zone Surface Mine Rescue and First Aid Competition, from left: Cade Aldridge, Anthony Standing, Jordan Tank, Danielle Robutka, Pete Race (Captain), Jason Kallies, Matt Rota (Vice Captain), Dave Charboneau.

Preparing for the East Kootenay zone surface mine rescue and first aid competition

Greenhills mine rescue members Danielle Robutka and Jordan Tank compete in the fire task category at a mine rescue competition.

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Special Features - Mining Week 2016