Donkin Mine plans to transport coal by seagoing vessel
The years-long debate on coal transportation by rail versus barge appears to have ended.
Officials at the Donkin Mine are preparing for geotechnical drilling, a first step towards plans of building a marine terminal in Port Morien.
“We would try to start construction as soon as possible,” said Shannon Campbell, vice president of Donkin Mine. “It would be ideal for us if we were able to ship coal out next year.”
Campbell said the first step is to prove the concept by assessing the seafloor on the southern coast of the peninsula where the mine is located on Morien Bay.
The facility would be located at the shore and secured to the seafloor.
“We have to ensure how strong the seafloor is, how strong the bedrock is under this proposed facility.”
The testing would require drilling five holes in the seafloor, each four inches in diameter and between 20-30 ft. deep.
“We would accomplish that by walking a drill onto a barge and sailing out to the area and taking a day or two to get those holes drilled,” he said.
“We waited until lobster season was over before we progressed that.”
On Tuesday, Campbell organized a meeting with Port Morien fishermen at the Port Morien fire hall to explain about the mine’s production and the viability of transporting coal by vessel as opposed to rail.
Campbell said the meeting went well.
“We had a respectful and productive conversation with much information shared and a willingness of everyone involved to continue to dialogue,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to the next meeting to continue to discuss issues and resolutions.”
Campbell said the capital investment for rail would be north of $80 million.
“That’s not all with the rail as it would also impact considerable wetlands, in fact more than 50 hectares and several
road crossings including the Glace Bay highway.”
The permitting and land acquisition steps create an incredibly long timeline — too long for their production growth, he added.
“Just the permitting alone would take a long, long time, not even including the property acquisition and right-of-way and those types of things.”
However, Campbell said, the marine facility can be built for half the upfront cost and take much less time to get into
operation and approvals and permits were already in place when the mine was purchased.
“The marine operating costs would also be about half of what rail is. We walked through the same process as the old owners and we came up with the same solution. The most sustainable way to move to move coal through the Donkin Mine is through a marine terminal.”
Campbell said the marine way would include habitat restoration.
“This organization is committed to work with the local fishermen and fisheries every step of the way.”
Campbell said viable transportation is vital to the mine’s future, as their production levels have continued to increase due to the hard work and dedication of their workforce. There are currently 120 employees at Donkin Mine, just under 80 percent are local people, he added.
“Many of the rest are expatriates who have moved here lock, stock and barrel. The last hires were last week and we’ll continue to build as the need arises.”
Campbell said they have submitted their new mine plan and are waiting for approval which will then allow them to put
some capital investment into growing their site and workforce future. The mine’s growth at the end of 2018 will see production of one million tonnes of coal a year. Campbell said they have approval to mine up to 3.6 million tonnes a year.
“We fully intend to do that. Right now, we’re only a third of the way there.”
Nova Scotia Power recently confirmed they are now purchasing Donkin coal. Campbell said they will be continuing to explore export markets.
“We have had several people test our coal but NSP is the first to enter in to a purchasing agreement on a long-term basis.”
Campbell said it’s important the Donkin Mine and the fishermen continue to talk.
“I think the more we discuss things than this operation can understand the needs of the fishing industry and viceversa. There’s a lot of people depending on us building the project that was designed and developed. We supply coal to Nova Scotia Power so folks can turn on a light at night to read a story to their kids or open the fridge Friday night to have a cold beer.”