Murray River

Overview

The Murray River metallurgical coal project is located 12.5 kilometers south of Tumbler Ridge in British Columbia, Canada. The mine is located within the Peace River Coalfield (PRC) an area renowned for its coal mining operations.

The coal property was acquired by Canadian Dehua International Mines Group Inc. in 2009. In 2011, the private HD Mining International Ltd was incorporated in British Columbia. It is 40% owned by Canadian Dehua and 55% owned by Huiyong Holdings (BC) Ltd. Huiyong Holding Group (HHG), the parent company of Huiyong Holdings (BC) Ltd., is a private company based in China and a respected leader in underground coal mining.  Currently HHG operates more than 9 mines throughout China. Huiyong  is responsible for project investment and mine development and operation.

Murray River is going to be developed as an underground mining operation employing modern longwall technology.  The mine is going to produce 6 million tonnes of metallurgical coal per year over a 31 years mine life.

HD Mining received approvals from the BC Government in February 2012 and March 2012 to mine a 100,000 tonne bulk sample to test the coal for use as a coking coal and to perform coal washability testing. An Environmental Assessment would be submitted in April 2013. 

HD Mining intends to produce the first coal in June 2015.

Location

The coal mining project is located 12.5 km south of the city of Tumbler Ridge in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Dawson Creek a possible source of goods and services is the closest (98 km) major city to the Murray River coal mining project.

The mine site could be accessed from Highway 52 by taking the Quintette Mine Road and Murray River Forest Service Road.

There are a variety of Crown tenures within the Project area, including guiding, trapping, forestry, utility, and oil and gas. 

The Murray River property is in the eastern foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The climate of the area is characterized by cool summers and cold winters with an average annual snowfall of 1.7m.

Geology & Mineralization

The Murray River property is within the Peace River Coalfield (PRC) in the eastern foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains of northeastern BC.  The Foothills belt is characterized by folded and faulted Mesozoic sediments. In the PRC there are two main coal-bearing units: the Gates Formation and the Gething Formation.  Both Lower Cretaceous units were subjected to varying degrees of burial prior to the Laramide deformation and mountain-building episodes that took place approximately 40 to 70 million years ago when the Pacific and North American plates collided. The Laramide Orogeny increased the overall maturity of the coal seams.

The target seams for the Murray River Project is part of the Gates Formation (Fort Saint John Group).

The Gates Formation conformably overlies the Moosebar Formation a dark grey to black marine shale with sideritic concretions, bentonite, and siltstone. The lower portion of the formation is termed the Quintette or Torrens member and consists of massive, light gray, medium-grainedsandstone, with minor carbonaceous and conglomeratic horizons.

The Quintette member is overlain by several cyclical sequences of coal deposition that occur over a stratigraphic interval of approximately 80 m collectively referred to as the Middle Gates. Each cycle normally begins with laminated, medium- to fine-grained sandstone at the base, transitioning to carbonaceous shale and coal. Coal seams are thickest and more continuous in the lowermost cycle: the D through K seams are economical to mine. Individual coal seams within the higher cycles may coalesce to form a single seam, e.g., the G and I seams are typically referred to as the G/I seam.

The lower portion of the Upper Gates is massive, medium- to coarse-grained sandstone and overlain by a predominantly shale sequence containing two to three poorly developed coal seams (A-C) intercalated with sandy shale and very fine sandstone. A very thin bed of chert pebbles with ferruginous cement marks the contact of the Upper Gates with the overlying marine sediments of the Hulcross Formation.

Mining & Operation

The Murray River is going to be an underground coal mining operation that employs modern longwall methods to mine the coal seams.

Mining resources in the four seams, D, E, F and J, were established using the following criteria to define preliminary economic limits: minimum coal height of 1.4 metres; and maximum depth of 1,000 meters. 

Three accesses will be developed from surface to underground: one decline for coal haulage; and two shafts (one shaft for transportation of personnel, materials and equipment and the air intake and the other shaft for return air only). Longwall working faces will be prepared for both J and D seams. The interconnection of the roadways in the coal seams and three accesses form the whole underground system. 

The longwall shields will be hydraulically powered by the emulsion system. Roof bolting is anticipated to be the predominant type of roof support. 

Mining equipment will include but not be limited to: shearer, scraper conveyor, stage loader, belt conveyor, hydraulic support, hydraulic pump pack, and local power center. Development equipment will include but not be limited to: roadheader, stage loader, belt conveyor, roof bolter, auxiliary fan, and local power centre. 

The main coal haulage equipment will be a belt conveyor.

Processing

Coal from the underground will be conveyed to the surface and transported along a belt conveyor to the raw coal preparation plant stockpile. After screening and sizing, the coal will be processed in a preparation plant, and the clean coal will be conveyed to a stockpile. Coal from the clean coal stockpile will be loaded into trucks.

Solid rejects from the plant will be conveyed to a waste dump. All water contained in the coal fines will be recycled.

Environment & Community

A water management plan that includes a discharge to the receiving environment will be developed. The water management plan will address general water quality and, in particular, total suspended solids and selenium.

Decommissioning of the site will include reclamation of the disturbed areas and removal of structures. The reclamation will be primarily land shaping, contouring, topsoil replacement, and re-vegetation. All structures on the site will be removed and the foundations buried under fill. After contouring and topsoil replacement is accomplished, the soil will be prepared for planting by ripping or disking and then seeded and mulched. Ongoing reclamation of the mine area will be conducted as a normal part of mine operation throughout the life of the mine.