Miner dies at BC coal mine

A worker at the Greenhills coal mine, near Elkford, B.C., was killed when the pickup truck he was driving collided with a load-haul-dump machine.

The death of Nathan Regular, 27, of Sparwood, B.C., is being investigated by the province’s mines inspector, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the mine’s safety committee.

The last fatality at Greenhills was in 1993. The operation has since won the Edward Prior Safety Award from the provincial government four times.

The mine produces 5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal per year as part of the Elk Valley Coal Partnership. The partnership is the world’s second-largest exporter of met coal and is capable of supplying 25 million tonnes annually to the international steel industry.

The Fording Canadian Coal Trust, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Fording Coal, owns 65% of the Elk Valley Coal Partnership. Vancouver-based Teck Cominco owns the remaining 35%.