STATUS-REPORT ON CANADIAN COAL MINING

How well is the Canadian coal industry able to expand in the tough competition with other fuels in Canada and with other suppliers in the international, metallurgical and thermal coal trade? Coal production as a whole decreased between 1950 and 1960 and, although there has been a tripling of production since then, underground production continued to decrease until 1975. This trend has been reversed to a certain extent as a result of the modernization of mines in Cape Breton, but in 1978 over 85% of coal production came from surface mining. Against this background, the paper reviews current Canadian mining operations. Conclusions are then drawn regarding some of the longer-term mining applications in relation to the latest coal demand forecast.