The Point Aconi coal mine, before and after!
A surface mine operated at #PointAconi, #CapeBreton, from 2006-2013 and today the site is greenspace with ponds and ocean views.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia @JaimeBattiste @CBRMGov
It’s a great example of reclamation mining – cleaning up historical mines by completing extraction and returning them to nature or preparing them for other uses.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia @JaimeBattiste @CBRMGov
The mine was on the site of the old Prince Mine, which opened in 1975 and closed in 2001. It produced about 1 million tons of coal per year and sold it to #NovaScotia Power to generate electricity at the #PointAconi power plant, immediately next to the mine.
#nspoli #cbpoli
When the Prince Mine closed, it was being operated by Devco (the #CapeBreton Development Corporation), whose mandate was to manage the eventual shutdown of Cape Breton’s coal mines while diversifying the island’s economy.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia @JaimeBattiste @CBRMGov
Devco tried to find a buyer for Prince but was unsuccessful, and the closure of the mine marked the end – for a short while at least – of coal mining in #NovaScotia.
#nspoli #cbpoli #capebreton @JaimeBattiste @CBRMGov
By 2001, Prince extended 8 kilometres under the ocean and it took miners 45 minutes to be transported to the coal face in the final years. Thanks to Devco, they were on the clock while in transit, a perk previous generations of miners didn’t get.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia
The modern #PointAconi surface mine extracted the remaining near-surface coal and cleaned up the site from the Prince Mine’s activities – at no expense to taxpayers since the reclamation was funded by selling the coal to #NovaScotia Power.
#nspoli #cbpoli @JaimeBattiste @CBRMGov
The coal was used at the Lingan power plant as well as the #PointAconi plant.
The surface mine also cleaned up the remains of extensive historical bootleg mining operations: tunnels, tools, equipment and pillars of coal left in place to hold up the ground above.
#nspoli #cbpoli
The site had many sinkholes caused by the bootleg mining-locals extracted coal to heat their homes in generations past. The bootleg pits went as deep as 80 feet down. The reclamation mining fixed these issues and stabilized the site, making it safe for future use.
#nspoli #cbpoli
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.