Sheerness — A new coal mine for Alberta

"The Sheerness Mine, a new surface coal mine located near Hanna, Alberta, went into full production in mid-1995. The mine, which is operated by Luscar’s subsidiary Forestburg Collieries (1984) Ltd., has the design capacity to supply up to 2.1 million tonnes of sub-bituminous coal per year to the adjacent Sheerness Generating station under a 30-year contract. This paper documents the construction phase of this project and highlights the major equipment purchases as well as the construction of the mine facilities. The paper also focuses on some of the areas where cost savings have been achieved that have allowed the mine to come on stream six months ahead of schedule, and under budget. Project ReviewMine DescriptionThe Sheerness Mine is located 25 km southeast of the town of Hanna in southeastern Alberta (Fig. 1). The mining property occupies the western portion of the Sheerness CoalField and borders the Montgomery Mine, operated by Manalta Coal Ltd. in the east, and Highway 36 in the west. The Montgomery Mine and the Sheerness Mine exclusively supply the total coal requirement of the adjacent Sheerness Generating Station. The station is owned jointly by Alberta Power Limited (APL) and TransAlta Utilities Corporation (TAU). APL is the operator. Manalta’s Montgomery Mine has supplied coal to the Sheerness Station since its opening in 1986. Coal is shipped by truck from the mines over a network of haul roads to the coal receiving hoppers located on the east side of Highway 36."