Canadian coal industry a boon to the country
The Province of British Columbia publishes a monthly bulleting, titled Mining Report that contains information on their mining industry.
The December 2007 edition of Mining Report discusses the Energy and Mines Ministers Conference, held in Whistler last September. The statistics on mining in Canada and British Columbia provide useful information on the beneficial impacts of mining in the area.
The minerals and metals industry contributed some $40 billion to Canada’s GDP and 369,000 jobs for Canadians in 2006. The mining sector is expected to continue it positive economic performance, with estimates that exploration expenditures in Canada could reach $25 billion in 2007, up 33 per cent from the previous year.
Later in the report, the provincial government reports that British Columbia is working to be recognized as a world leader in environmental technologies for coal extraction and use. 356 new licenses, covering 171,456 hectares (423,677 acres), were granted in 2006.
With 21.1 million tonnes (~23.3 million short tons) of production in 2006, the B.C. coal industry also was responsible for 2,900 jobs and CDN $128.2 million in revenues from mineral taxes.
The rapidly improving environmental record in both the mining and use of coal is just the gravy. When paired with the social and economic stability that the coal industry provides to any region in which mines are active, the arguments for using coal just continue to pile up. It is easy to see why British Columbians are so proud of their coal industry.