Canadians own tens of thousands of acres of coal-rich land in southeast BC, but the feds say no one will be allowed to mine it, says Blacklock’s Reporter..The 49,421 acres of pristine, taxpayer-owned coal lands have been slated for auction since 2013. Cabinet on Friday said it will refuse permits for all new coal mining ventures in Canada..“This position will inform federal decision making on thermal coal mining projects,” cabinet said in a statement..It did not mention the largest tract of federal lands known to have top-grade coal..The Dominion Coal Block near Fernie, B.C. contains more than 75,000,000 tonnes of steel-quality coal, by official estimate. Parliament in 2013 passed a bill that permitted the cabinet to auction the lands owned by the federal government since 1905..“It’s an area that is well known for high quality metallurgical coking coal,” Soren Halverson, associate assistant deputy finance minister, testified at 2013 hearings of the Senate energy committee..“That resource is a scarce resource. It’s too early to speculate on the potential value.”.Then-Conservative MP David Wilks (Kootenay-Columbia), whose riding included the Dominion Coal Block, told the Commons at the time the wilderness area had “huge potential” for export to Asian markets..“We know the Dominion Coal Block has a huge potential regarding metallurgical coal, which in common terms is the steel-making coal used vastly around the world for a number of things,” said Wilks..“It is time to divest and allow natural resource extraction to continue.”.Wilks called the land auction “a great opportunity not only for the federal government, but also for the extraction industry.”.The coal lands border B.C.’s Flathead River Watershed where provincial regulators imposed a mining moratorium in 2011. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has proposed the Dominion Coal Block be federally protected..Cabinet on Friday said it would not issue any federal permits for new coal mines or expanded operations. The ban was a “position,” not a regulation or statute..“New thermal coal mining projects or expansions are not in line with the ambition Canadians want to see on climate,” Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a statement..Wilkinson’s department in a policy statement said the “continued mining and use of coal for energy production anywhere in the world is not environmentally sustainable and does not align with the Government of Canada’s commitments.”.Cabinet did not comment on investments in Chinese coal companies by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board..The agency in its 2020 annual report disclosed it held $1 million worth of stock in Jiangsu Guoxin Corp. Ltd., a coal distributor; another $3 million in shares with China Coal Energy Co. Ltd., operator of 12 mines; and $42 million in China Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd., the largest state-owned coal mining company in the People’s Republic..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
Canadians own tens of thousands of acres of coal-rich land in southeast BC, but the feds say no one will be allowed to mine it, says Blacklock’s Reporter..The 49,421 acres of pristine, taxpayer-owned coal lands have been slated for auction since 2013. Cabinet on Friday said it will refuse permits for all new coal mining ventures in Canada..“This position will inform federal decision making on thermal coal mining projects,” cabinet said in a statement..It did not mention the largest tract of federal lands known to have top-grade coal..The Dominion Coal Block near Fernie, B.C. contains more than 75,000,000 tonnes of steel-quality coal, by official estimate. Parliament in 2013 passed a bill that permitted the cabinet to auction the lands owned by the federal government since 1905..“It’s an area that is well known for high quality metallurgical coking coal,” Soren Halverson, associate assistant deputy finance minister, testified at 2013 hearings of the Senate energy committee..“That resource is a scarce resource. It’s too early to speculate on the potential value.”.Then-Conservative MP David Wilks (Kootenay-Columbia), whose riding included the Dominion Coal Block, told the Commons at the time the wilderness area had “huge potential” for export to Asian markets..“We know the Dominion Coal Block has a huge potential regarding metallurgical coal, which in common terms is the steel-making coal used vastly around the world for a number of things,” said Wilks..“It is time to divest and allow natural resource extraction to continue.”.Wilks called the land auction “a great opportunity not only for the federal government, but also for the extraction industry.”.The coal lands border B.C.’s Flathead River Watershed where provincial regulators imposed a mining moratorium in 2011. The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has proposed the Dominion Coal Block be federally protected..Cabinet on Friday said it would not issue any federal permits for new coal mines or expanded operations. The ban was a “position,” not a regulation or statute..“New thermal coal mining projects or expansions are not in line with the ambition Canadians want to see on climate,” Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a statement..Wilkinson’s department in a policy statement said the “continued mining and use of coal for energy production anywhere in the world is not environmentally sustainable and does not align with the Government of Canada’s commitments.”.Cabinet did not comment on investments in Chinese coal companies by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board..The agency in its 2020 annual report disclosed it held $1 million worth of stock in Jiangsu Guoxin Corp. Ltd., a coal distributor; another $3 million in shares with China Coal Energy Co. Ltd., operator of 12 mines; and $42 million in China Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd., the largest state-owned coal mining company in the People’s Republic..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
