Annual Coal Review 1987 COAL REPORT DEVCO

Among the highlights of the 1986 activities of the Cape Breton Development Corp. (devco) were: steady progress in the development of t he new Phalen mi ne; a major expansion of the corporation’s coal preparation plant; a marked decr ease in lost-time accidents; and the implementation of a 5-star safety system.

Robert Cooper, vice-president of mining operations, says the two operating mines — Lingan and Prince — produced about 2.7 million tonnes of run-of-mine coal last year. The Lingan mine, with 1.7 million tonnes of production, has three producing longwalls. A rotary breaker was commissioned at the Lingan Colliery in 1 986 and a new silo, with a capacity of 4,000 tonnes, was also put into operation. The silo permits rapid flood- loading of coal cars.

Prince Colliery, which uses the retreat method of mining, had a productive year and is expected to hit the million-tonne mark again this year.

Management of the coal division was extremely pleased with the reduction in lost-time accidents during the past year, Cooper says. The total number was down 35% to 40% from 1985. New programs, including the introduction of the 5-star sa fety system by the International Loss Control Institute, have been key factors i n achieving a marked improvement in safety awareness within the corporation.

The new Phalen mine, a replacement for No. 26 Colliery, in Glace Bay, N.S., which was closed following a fire in 1984, is expected to start producing in May. The first face will go on stream then and the second coal face is expected to st art in August. This new mine will produce two million tonnes annually of run-of- mine coal. Phalen coal is classified as 50% thermal and 50% metallurgical.

Ronald Nicholson, vice-president, engineering, says this new mine has state- of-the-art equipment and new technologies which should lower the cost of productio n and improve the output per manshift. He says the mine is truly a modern submar ine mining operation that will give devco the ability to compete for a bigger sh are of the world market.

A second access tunnel at the Donkin-Morien development project is nearing completion. This enormous coal resource is to be developed when market conditions are more favorable.

Nicholson says the corporation’s Victoria Junction coal preparation plant is now undergoing an expansion which will allow it to handle the output of the new m ine. The expansion, at a cost of about $35 million, will increase the production of the plant to 804 tonnes from 685 tonnes per hour and is designed to reduce maintenance costs and improve environmental controls.

Lloyd Creaser, vice-president, marketing, reports that devco sold 2.7 million tonnes of coal in 1986. Although the Nova Scotia Power Corp. is the main custome r, he says devco has been shipping globally and has established customers in Eur ope, South America and the Far East. *