Montem Resources mulls Alberta government’s decision on coal development
Global News
Montem Resources is considering the Alberta government's decision last month to extend a pause on coal development on the summits and eastern slopes of the Rockies.
A company hoping to develop coal in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains says it will decide by the end of June whether to convert its open-pit mine proposal into a renewable energy project.
“Montem’s currently investigating its renewable resource opportunity,” said CEO Peter Doyle. “When it completes that, it’ll be able to compare its renewable resource opportunity to its coal opportunity.”
Montem Resources is one of the companies considering the Alberta government’s decision last month to extend a pause on coal development on the summits and eastern slopes of the Rockies.
Although Montem’s Tent Mountain project was designated an advanced project in the announcement and will be able to continue with regulatory reviews and environmental assessment, Doyle acknowledges the politics of coal mining are shifting.
“The political landscape is fluid and it remains fluid,” he said. “All we can do is react to the rules as they change.”
Montem’s coal proposal would reopen an open-pit site in the Crowsnest Pass region of southwest Alberta that was last mined in 1983. Although the mine has existing permits, they must be updated and revised before operations can resume.
The company says the project would create 190 full-time jobs over an expected mine life of 14 years.
The project has faced significant public opposition, including from area First Nations. It faces a joint federal-provincial environmental assessment and must also wait for Alberta to decide how it wants coal to fit into the region’s land-use plan.
