Coal Stats! |
Coal Facts!Coal has been mined in Alberta since the late 1800s. Over 1800 mines have operated in Alberta since then.
Coal prospectors were a big part of exploring and mapping some of Alberta’s remote foothills and mountain regions. Coal is a low-cost fuel for electricity generation and plays a major role in keeping power prices at reasonable levels. Alberta uses over 25 million tonnes of coal annually to generate electricity. Alberta has vast coal resources and 70 per cent of Canada's coal reserves are right here in this province. This amounts to 33.2 billion tonnes. Coal in Alberta is generally low in sulphur and therefore burns relatively clean compared to many coals mined around the world. Leading edge technologies, such as coal gasification, coal liquefaction, carbon dioxide storage and sequestration, have the potential to allow Alberta to utilize its coal with near-zero emissions into the atmosphere. |
Coal Mining in Lethbridge!By the 1870s, Nicholas Sheran (an American entrepreneur) mined a coal seam in the coulees on the west side of what is now the Oldman River. He sold what he mined to Montana traders and the NWMP.
Sir Alexander Tilloch Galt was interested in the success Sheran was having. He knew a transcontinental railway was soon to be built in the area, and the settlers it would bring would create a profitable market for the coal. On 13 October 1882, Galt's company North Western Coal and Navigation Company opened the first drift mine across from Sheran's operation. This mine was managed by William Stafford. The first president and largest shareholder of the company, William Lethbridge, was the one after whom the town was named. By the 20th century, the mines employed about 150 men and produced about 300 tonnes of coal each day. By the time production peaked during World War I, 10 mines employed 2,000 miners and produced 1 million tonnes of coal annually. At the time, local collieries were the largest coal producers in the Northwest Territories. After the war, an increase in oil and natural gas production caused a decline in coal production, and the last mine in Lethbridge closed in 1957. Some of this mine, Galt No. 8, still stands today, and a local society is attempting to renovate it as a museum or interpretive centre. |