Mining Develops

The potential of mining was clear as the earliest settlers arrived and found copper, coal, and mica. Rich coal deposits were found at Hudson’s Hope and are being mined today. There have been deposits of coal identified from Beaverlodge to Grande Prairie and to Cadomin. In the early years of settlement, coal was retrieved from the surface or with limited digging. The coal was used for heat by homesteaders. Many of the early mines have collapsed.

One of these early mines was run by the Red Willow Coal Mines, which was operating in 1924. Red Willow became Valleyview. In 1936, there was a coal mine on the Wapiti River and another called the Cutbank Coal Mine.

With the construction of the Alaska Highway and other needs created by the Second World War, three coal mines started operation. These mines included the Peace River Coal Mine, the King Gething Coal Mine, and the Packwood Coal Mine, later renamed the Reschke Coal Mine. The coal was used for heat at Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. The coal production was used by the construction crews of the Alaska Highway and communities along the highway. The availability of natural gas and oil slowed and ended the use of coal. The expense of shipping the coal out of the Peace River country also made it less economical.

Coal mining in the Peace River country has cycled through period of increased demand and other times when there was little interest. The reserves of coal were seen as a resource that could wait for a time of need.

In recent years there was a revival of coal mining as international demand has increased. In 2005, the Western Canadian Coal Corporation received environmental approval for its Wolverine Mine in Tumbler Ridge. This new open pit mine is expected to be in development late in 2005.

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