Teck: Largest producer of steelmaking coal in Canada

Soil conservation is an important feature of Cardinal River Operations reclamation efforts

Completed 51-C6 pit reclamation, newly developed Sphinx Lake. 2010
Teck Resources Ltd. (Teck) is Canada’s largest producer of steelmaking coal, operating six coal mining operations in Western Canada. Teck’s Cardinal River Operations (CRO) is located primarily in the Subalpine Natural Subregion in the eastern slopes of Alberta. The area provides locally important habitat for ungulates such as bighorn sheep, elk and mule deer and large carnivores such as grizzly bear, wolf and cougar. 

Soil conservation is a fundamental component of Cardinal River Operations reclamation programs. Soils handling evolved over CRO’s fifty plus year history of mining operations to the current state that is somewhat unique in western Canadian industrial mining operations.

Teck: Largest producer of steelmaking coal in Canada

Soil conservation is an important feature of Cardinal River Operations reclamation efforts

Teck Resources Ltd. (Teck) is Canada’s largest producer of steelmaking coal, operating six coal mining operations in Western Canada. Teck’s Cardinal River Operations (CRO) is located primarily in the Subalpine Natural Subregion in the eastern slopes of Alberta. The area provides locally important habitat for ungulates such as bighorn sheep, elk and mule deer and large carnivores such as grizzly bear, wolf and cougar. 

Soil conservation is a fundamental component of Cardinal River Operations reclamation programs. Soils handling evolved over CRO’s fifty plus year history of mining operations to the current state that is somewhat unique in western Canadian industrial mining operations.
Completed 51-C6 pit reclamation, newly developed Sphinx Lake. 2010
Rough mounding activity underway at Teck’s Cardinal River Operations.
Soil Management Practices

In the past fifty years, CRO reclamation programs have evolved. The early stages of mine development and reclamation involved the resloping of waste rock materials to a stable angle followed by establishing vegetation quickly to minimize erosion, stabilize slopes and provide forage for wildlife, commonly referred to as the “green up” approach. this typically translated into the seeding of persistent and aggressive agronomic mixes and legumes at heavy rates, combined with application of initial and prolonged maintenance fertilizing.
The Cheviot mine presented CRO with an opportunity for a spatial and methodological change to reclamation practices and specifically with soils handling practices to meet objectives consistent with native vegetation species reestablishment. Coversoil salvage was conducted as a single-lift operation to recover all salvageable suitable soil materials prior to mining disturbance.

Cardinal River Operations developed and implemented a soil placement technique referred to as rough mounding. 
With this method, soil was hauled to the reclamation site with trucks and dumped along the edge of the site (on flat, accessible ground, the soil is dumped throughout the site). A dozer then pushed a bladeful of soil to the far edge of the site, leaving the bladeful as a mound. The dozer then retreated to retrieve another bladeful, pushing that up to the last bladeful. The dozer continued this process until the entire site was covered with small piles of soil. The dozer never drove on top of any placed soil. The result of this operation was a rough, mounded surface with minimal soil compaction. Coversoil thickness over a distance of three metres varied from 5 to 60 centimetres with a median thickness of at least 30 centemetres. 
Outcomes of applied soil handling practices at the Cheviot mine enhance natural revegetation and contribute positively to biodiversity. 2017
This practice provided abundant micro-relief (30-60 centimetres from top of mound to bottom of depression), offering shelter and moisture retention for re-establishing vegetation. The rough mounding method proved to be an effective means for controlling erosion and increasing biodiversity.
There are several conclusions. Rough mounding of the topsoil together with an emphasis on the incorporation of coarse woody slash, stumps, roots and seeds, provided and encouraged significant surface cover, roughness and sources of native seed required for natural revegetation of the reclaimed areas.
Early reclamation of 51-C6 pit, landform design to develop end pit lake at Teck’s Cardinal River Operations. 2005