Brule Mine

Commodities: Metallurgical (coking) coal

Location: 50 km south-southeast of Chetwynd, BC.

Geology and Type of Deposit: Brule is located in the Foreland belt of the Canadian Cordillera. The coal occurs in a Lower Cretaceous sedimentary sequence of interbedded sandstones, siltstones, and mudstones. It is mined from three seams in the lower part of the Gething Formation. The seams have an average thickness of 12 m.

The Operation: Brule is one of a cluster of coal mines in northeastern BC and was the successor to the Dillon Mine. It opened in 2004 but operations stopped in 2014 due to low coal prices  In 2016, Brule was purchased by Conuma Coal Resources Ltd. and restarted operations in September. By October, 40,000 tonnes of coal had been hauled, and by November, the first train load had been shipped to market. The mine reached full-scale operation in December 2016. 

Mining Method: Conventional open pit mining method. Blasting occurs several times daily. Excavators and loaders are used to scoop up the broken coal into haul trucks which transport into to the processing plant.

Processing: Only rudimentary processing is done on-site. The coal is loaded onto a conveyor and moved to a crusher that breaks the coal into smaller pieces. The coal is then spray washed to keep dust down and then loaded on rail cars.

Markets: The major markets for coal from Brule is Asia, North and South America, and Europe. Coal is shipped via train to Ridley Port in Prince Rupert and the Port of Vancouver, where it is loaded onto bulk carrier to transport to Asia.

Community and Employment: The Brule mine currently employs 170 people on-site in a variety of mining positions. Most employees live nearby in Tumbler Ridge, and other small communities.

Read more about the Brule Mine at Conuma's website.

BCMEM's Brule MINFILE profile.