Donkin Exploration Project
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The Donkin Exploration Project was originally proposed by Xstrata Coal as a 5 million tonnes per annum underground longwall coal project aimed at supplying both the domestic and international markets.[1]
Contents
Location
The satellite photo below shows the mine near Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Ownership
The project was a joint venture between Xstrata Coal Canada (75%) and Erdene Gold (25%)" and managed by Xstrata Coal Donkin Management. On December 3, 2014, it was announced that Glencore (formerly Xtrata Coal) had completed the sale of its 75% interest in Donkin to Kameron Collieries ULC, a subsidiary of The Cline Group, LLC. On December 12, 2014, Morien announced it had entered into an agreement with Kameron to exchange its 25% working interest in the Donkin for $5.5 million in cash and a production royalty on sales from Donkin.[2]
History
On its website Xstrata Coal states that "initial development of the Donkin Coal Project was started by the Cape Breton Development Corporation in the late 1970’s. A series of offshore boreholes were drilled and in the early 1980’s work began on the driving of 2 access tunnels. These tunnels were completed in 1988 and are 3600m long and vary between 20% and 1% in grade. Work on the project was suspended in 1989 due to a downturn in world coal markets and in 1992 a decision was made to seal the tunnels and allow them to flood with groundwater. In June 2006 the Donkin site and sealed access tunnels were purchased by the Xstrata Coal Alliance from the Cape Breton Development Corporation. The tunnels remained sealed until October 2006 when they were successfully re-opened and dewatering and remediation activities commenced on site. If a decision was made to proceed with this project, then it would be anticipated that a Longwall would be in production by 2011."[1] Production from the first continuous miner at Donkin commenced in February 2017, while the coal handling, preparation and processing plant (CHPP) was installed in September 2017.[3]
Proposed Expansion
In January 2019, it was reported that Provincial Energy Ventures Ltd. (PEV) is proceeding with the first phase of its CAN$75 million expansion of its export facility in Sydney, Cape Breton.[4]
Project Details
- Owner: Kameron Collieries
- Parent company: The Cline Group
- Location: Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada
- GPS coordinates: 46.1742948,-59.83383 (exact)
- Mine status: Operating
- Start year: 2017
- Mineable reserves: 58 million tons[3]
- Coal type:
- Mine size:
- Mine type: Underground
- Production: 1.8 million tons per year
- Additional proposed production: 4 million tons per year
- Equipment: Longwall Underground Mining
- Number of employees: over 100
Project Expansion Details
- Status: Proposed
- Production Capacity: 1.5 million tons per year
- Mine expansion size:
- Start Year: 2019
- Source of Financing: Morien Resources Group
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Xstrata Coal, "Donkin Exploration Project", Xstrata Coal website, accessed August 2010.
- ↑ Donkin Mine, Nova Scotia, Canada, Recent Activities, Morien Resources Corporation, accessed October 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Donkin Coal Project, Nova Scotia, Mining Technology Website, accessed October 2019.
- ↑ "Morien issues update on Donkin coal mine", World Coal, May 22, 2019.
