Grim warning from outgoing Canadian coal chief

The Canadian coal industry is on the verge of being ‘tobaccofied’ warns the outgoing Chairman of the Canadian Coal Association, Bob Stan.
He told 250 delegates at the 2012 Canadian Coal Conference in downtown Vancouver early in June that if environmental critics of the coal industry had their way they would “tobaccofy our industry and turn us into the villains.” He added that the tobacco industry has been turned into a borderline criminal activity in North America and warned that he didn’t want to see that happen to coal.
Stan, who completed his term as Chairman at the conference, says the anti-coal environmentalists and activists have an agenda that is “substantially different from most people in the world.”
People realize that it’s not an argument that has much to do with climate change, but more about reasonably-priced energy, especially in emerging nations, he added. Abundantly available coal also does more to relieve electricity poverty throughout the world than any other fuel, he told delegates in a similar conference last year.
Before a recent change, Stan was president & CEO of the Alberta-based Grande Cache Coal. He told the conference he has chosen to move on after a recent friendly takeover by Winsway Coking Coal Holdings of Hong Kong and Marubeni Corporation of Japan.
Stan warmed the delegates with a comment:“What a wonderful time to be in the coal business. Yes, times are sometimes uncertain, but the future of the Canadian coal industry is very strong.”
He reminded them that coal had been the basis of development of most industrialized nations in the past several decades.
“I have never seen so many new companies registered with new mines and transition projects in west and northern Canada and other parts of the world,” he told delegates. “I find it extraordinarily exciting.”
But, he also took the opportunity presented by one of his last
official speeches to encourage delegates that they should be proud to be in the coal business, “it’s a great, great industry to be in.
“I don’t think those who would hijack and tobaccofy our industry or the tar sands industry . . . these people don’t stand up strong for the economy here in Canada.”
Stan used his final address as outgoing Chairman closing the conference to urge delegates to be “upbeat about the future of the coal industry” and told them “there is so much opportunity right now.”
Another who shares in the excitement for the Canadian industry is global coal expert Gerard McCloskey, who was moderator for all conference sessions. McCloskey, who is senior advisor of Global Coal Sector for the McCloskey Group, told the conference Canada has “endless capacity.”
Calling the steelmaking coal sector “extraordinarily robust” he said “all metallurgical coal roads lead to Canada” and not to the uncertainty of developing countries and others such as Queensland, which was prone to once-in- a-100-year floods . . . every few years.”
McCloskey told the global audience the resurgence in the Canadian coal industry is for real.
“It’s different this time, it’s convincing this time and extremely exciting.”
And a senior official of Teck Resources Limited — Canada’s leading coal export company and the largest producer of steelmaking coal in North America — told the conference the Canadian coal industry had for years been described as “disappointing.”
“That has all changed,” says Robert Bell,Teck’s vice president and chief commercial officer. Canada has over 100 years of coal (about 1 billion tonnes of proven reserves) it can deliver to the market and 90% of that is high quality, premium coking coal (steelmaking coal).
He predicted “very significant growth” over the next 20 years with a doubling of exports on the seaborne market. China, which was moving to larger and larger blast furnaces in its steel production would need the higher quality coking coal available from Canada.
Bell believes Canada will be exporting about 50mt (million tonnes) of steelmaking coal by 2023 and that will mean a jump of 20mt.
Currently the conference was told, Canada has about six major coal mine ventures about to start mining, in their feasibility stage, or amid the approvals process. Most are in the northeast fields of British Columbia, but there’s at least two in central west Alberta; one in southern BC; another in south central BC, one on Vancouver Island, and even one reopening in Nova Scotia on the east coast. One the west coast, the three major coal export terminals —