Client: Teck Coal/Golder Associates
Site: Elk View Operations
Project Duration: 2014-Present
Project summary:
- Structural geology of the Natal Open Pit and adjacent region
- Construction and interpretation of structural sections and maps
- Bench mapping and individual fault analysis
- Assist with slope stability assessment and failure mechanisms within the open pit
The Elk View Coal deposit is located in the Rocky Mountain Fold-Thrust Belt, and is one of a number of world class coal deposits in this region of British Colombia. Teck’s Elkview operation is located approximately three kilometres east of Sparwood in SE British Columbia. Teck has a 95% partnership interest in Elkview. The remaining 5% is indirectly held equally by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, a Japanese steel producer, and POSCO, a Korean steel producer, each of which acquired a 2.5% interest in 2005. The coal produced at Elkview is used to make steel. The current annual production capacities of the mine and preparation plant (on a 100% basis) are approximately 6.5 million and 6.8 million tonnes of clean coal, respectively. At current planned production rates, Elkview is estimated to have a remaining reserve life of approximately 29 years.
The Natal Pit geology is represented by two main phases of structural deformation. A contractional main thrust event with a West to East transport direction (locally variable and WSW-ENE in pit area) is followed by an extension – negative inversion – re-working of pre-existing thrust structures with a West-East axis of extension which varies locally. The resulting structures provide multiple surfaces for potential failure in and around the pit and it is therefore of paramount importance to understand these structures and their orientations in order to provide a template for stability analysis and mine planning.
Info Link
http://www.teck.com/operations/canada/operations/elk-view/
http://www.ggslimited.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/lewis_thrust.pdf