By Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun, May 28, 2011
Teck Resources' plan to reopen Quintette mine just one of several projects moving ahead
The tiny community of Tumbler Ridge is poised for a new lease on life with several industrial projects in the works, including the reopening of Teck Resources' Quintette coal mine.
Tumbler Ridge is poised for significant growth because of international demand for coal. Work has begun to reopen one mine, there is a proposal for two others, and existing mines could double output. (Photograph by: Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun Files, Vancouver Sun) |
The mine, located about 20 kilometres south of the town in northeastern B.C., was closed in 2000 after operating since 1982 and Teck is now in the final phase of a feasibility study to get it up and running again. Tumbler Ridge is located 400 km northeast of Prince George. If Quintette gets the regulatory go-ahead, construction is expected to begin early next year. The mine would be fully operational in 2013 with more than 400 employees. Preliminary work has already begun at the site.
The estimated capital cost of the open-pit project is about $500 million, with the driving force behind the mine's reopening an insatiable demand for steelmaking coal in China and other parts of Asia.
The mine would have a projected life of 16 years, producing up to 3.5 million metric tons of coal per year.
But it's not just the planned Quintette reopening that has Tumbler Ridge, with 3,300 residents, anticipating a much better future.
Two new underground coal mines are proposed by Canadian Dehua International Mines Group, the Canadian arm of a consortium of Chinese companies that want to develop coal mines in northeastern B.C. There are also two wind turbine projects in the area expected to result in dozens of new jobs.
"This means the shade of 2000 and 2001 has disappeared," Mayor Larry White said in an interview, referring to previous mine closures. "There's great opportunity here if someone wants to get in on the ground floor."
White said the new wind farms also bring a special measure of stability to Tumbler Ridge.
"It doesn't matter what the price of coal is, they're not going to move out of town.
"And the good thing about Dehua," he added, "is they don't care about the price of coal on the world market, because they want it for their [China's] own use. And they're looking for a 50-year lease."
White said the Dehua project would result in between 400 and 600 jobs and that the company hopes to have operations up and running in two years.
"I don't know if they appreciate the [environmental assessment] process, but I have no information to doubt them."
He said Dehua is now advertising for employees in the area, and could bring in workers from China if unsuccessful.
"As long as they live and supply income here, I can't see any problem. [But] we've discussed the importance of hiring locally."
Rob Mackay, a town councillor and owner of Tumbler Ridge Building Supplies, said in an interview that reopening the Quintette mine is "extremely important" to the town's future.
"Quintette is one of the original mines and probably the main reason Tumbler Ridge exists in the first place.
"There will be an influx of employees, about 450 [at Quintette], which would mean housing starts, construction, possibly apartments. And Teck was a good community-oriented company. It was pretty traumatic when they closed."
Mackay, who believes the new mine activity bodes well not just for the town but for his own company, said the area is already home to other coal mines operated by Western Canadian Coal and Walter Energy Inc.'s Western Coal division.
He noted that Dehua has purchased a small hotel in the area amid rumours it's interested in purchasing another, possibly as housing for future mine employees.
"It's the demand for coal," he said.
"The Chinese will take just about everything produced in this area.
"Any light industry that could service [the mines] should get up here quickly," he added.
"Industrial property is going fast. There's fantastic opportunities."
Teck Resources' First Nations liaison Ray Proulx said in an interview that the reopening of the Quintette mine is in the final stages of the feasibility study and that it would be at full production by 2013 if it gets approval in the fourth quarter of 2011.
"We would start mining in the second quarter of 2012."
He said the mine is undergoing infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation in anticipation of the restart.
"We're dusting things off and fixing things up for if the reopening takes place. But there's not much rehabilitation [needed]. It was built really well in the first place."
The mine would produce between three and 3.5 million metric tons of coal annually, Proulx said.
Jim Kincaid, assistant to Tumbler Ridge's acting chief administration officer, said the Dehua project involves building two 3,500-metre tunnels for an underground mining operation.
But Kincaid said that it's not just Quintette and Dehua projects that bode well for the town's future.
He said the existing mines are talking about doubling production to meet international demand, "and that would mean about 150 to 200 jobs each."
White said Capital Power Corp. of Alberta is building 97 wind turbines about 15 kilometres outside of the town, which would mean 100 to 150 construction jobs, and Finavera Wind Energy is proposing to build another 33 turbines and have them operational next year. The two projects would result in up to 40 full-time operational jobs.
"Things are bouncing around pretty good," added Kincaid, who noted that tourism is also a growing industry.
"We could be looking at a doubling of our population in two or three years.
"[And] there's a fairly significant servicing [industry] here for the oil and gas fields."
Kincaid said Tumbler Ridge may be returning primarily to its industrial roots after becoming something of a retirement community in recent years because of cheap housing prompted by mine closures over the past 15 years.
"The town just about dried up and blew away," he added. "A lot of seniors moved here in the 1990s and early 2000s. But now it's going back."
Kincaid noted that housing all the anticipated new workers could present a problem.
"Right now, our vacancy rate for apartments is zero. It's hard to find places."
Peter Thompson, managing broker for Re/Max Tumbler Ridge Realty, moved to the town five years ago and bought a detached home for $21,000. Today, he said, the average price of a home is in the $170,000 range -and rising.
"Things are booming," he said in an interview.
"It's a complete transformation from [five years ago]. There's still room for upward [price] movement."
Thompson said he's working seven days a week -"I'm going like crazy" -but the downside is Tumbler Ridge is remote and it's difficult to find employees.
"The upside is I bought two apartment buildings and converted them to strata units."
Thompson said that the real sales pressure hasn't yet hit.
"It's a lull between the announcement of various projects and getting them in full swing. We don't have the thousands of workers yet, but they're certainly coming."
Meanwhile, other businesses are anticipating the growth.
"It would do a lot for this town," Al Dilk, owner of Dig-It Bobcat Service, said of the new mines.
"I'm looking forward to these things going in. It will stabilize the town some more [and] will bring in more small businesses."
Earlier this year, Pat Bell, B.C.'s Minister of Jobs, announced that Chinese investors plan to build three underground coal mines in northeastern B.C. in a $1-billion development designed to feed China's steelmaking industry.
Bell said that the companies have raised the capital they need and have applied for permits to mine bulk sample of 100,000 tons each.
He expects the consortium will start the environmental assessment later this year and begin construction in early 2013.
Dehua referred all questions about the Tumbler Ridge project to company president Naishun Liu. Despite requests for comment and more information, The Vancouver Sun did not receive any response from Liu.
bmorton@vancouversun.com
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