There are four broad areas of the mining industry in BC
- Metal mines - gold, silver, copper, zinc, molybdenum and lead
- Coal mines
- Industrial minerals - sulphur, barite, lime, cement, pumice, gypsum, zeolites and a host of others
- Construction aggregates - sand, gravel and stone
Since the late 1980s BC has normally produced between 23 and 27 million tonnes of coal per year. Coal mining is up in dollar values and not in quantity of coal produced, yet. With the numerous new mines being proposed for the North East, BC could very well see a significant expansion in coal production in BC.
Historically BC was not much of a coal mining centre even though we had our own coal barons in the form of the Dunsmirs. The historical industry reached a peak in 1910 with just over 3 million tonnes produced which happened during some lean years for metal mines in BC. By 1960 coal mining was less than 5% of the value of the BC mining industry.
The modern BC coal industry ramped up in the 1970s going from less than one million tonnes in 1969 to over ten million in 1979 with value of production rising by 8000% over the same time. The rise in value of the metal mining sector over the same time was 350%.
In terms of revenues, the metal mining sector was normally 30-100% larger than the coal sector from 1987 to 2007.
The coal sector increase in value comes in part because of the rise in the value of coal. At the same the metal sector has seen production of some metals drop to production levels not seen since the 19th century.
- In 2011 BC only produced 2,650,651 grams of gold, the lowest level of production since 1895. In 2000 BC produced 25,129,245 grams of gold. The value of gold produced in 2011 was the lowest since 1985 and I am not considering any inflation.
- In 2011 57,685 kilograms of silver was produced, down from 676,870 kg in 2003. Once again, the lowest production since 1895.
- In 2011 424,603 kg of lead was produced, the lowest level since 1892. In 1985 BC produced 116,811,328 kg of lead
- Zinc was low in 2011 but not as low as the others. 26,662,908 kg was produced which is the lowest level of production since 1922. In 2000 BC produced 145,516,482 kg
What all this means is that BC is getting very dependent on mining coal for government revenues. Combine this with natural gas and oil revenues and we have a government that is setting itself up for a potential crash should more countries take the idea of climate change seriously.
Globally we will potentially become a target of the climate change movement if the provincial government is so dependent on coal, oil and gas. The carbon tax in BC may be lauded by many, but it does nothing to deal with the production and export of the carbon based fuels. Maybe the time has come for BC to consider applying a carbon tax on the coal produced in BC, something in the range of $30 to $50 a tonne.
Table of value of various sectors of the BC mining industry from 1980 to 2011
| Industrial | Metal | total construction aggregates | Coal | Total mining revenues | |
| 2011 | $456,734,763.00 | $2,095,597,004.00 | $349,023,032.00 | $5,691,021,000.00 | $8,592,375,799.00 |
| 2010 | $348,512,304.00 | $2,191,323,516.00 | $372,892,236.00 | $4,253,436,000.00 | $7,166,164,056.00 |
| 2009 | $283,057,000.00 | $1,888,083,285.00 | $303,095,604.00 | $3,297,307,786.00 | $5,771,543,675.00 |
| 2008 | $695,681,553.00 | $2,589,610,944.00 | $378,205,491.00 | $3,738,496,000.00 | $7,401,993,988.00 |
| 2007 | $424,109,938.00 | $2,887,070,973.00 | $347,180,884.00 | $1,948,999,000.00 | $5,607,360,795.00 |
| 2006 | $363,206,871.00 | $3,248,374,777.00 | $273,732,745.00 | $2,105,270,000.00 | $5,990,584,393.00 |
| 2005 | $364,087,860.00 | $2,441,988,135.00 | $278,118,675.00 | $2,299,634,000.00 | $5,383,828,670.00 |
| 2004 | $354,618,471.00 | $1,955,515,694.00 | $238,521,017.00 | $1,190,920,000.00 | $3,739,575,182.00 |
| 2003 | $336,096,928.00 | $1,353,068,391.00 | $226,300,499.00 | $971,517,000.00 | $2,886,982,818.00 |
| 2002 | $309,692,978.00 | $1,287,959,868.00 | $230,541,229.00 | $1,034,862,000.00 | $2,863,056,075.00 |
| 2001 | $295,985,001.00 | $1,394,462,073.00 | $216,625,413.00 | $959,292,000.00 | $2,866,364,487.00 |
| 2000 | $284,146,412.00 | $1,571,163,102.00 | $223,914,400.00 | $812,073,000.00 | $2,891,296,914.00 |
| 1999 | $246,407,790.00 | $1,183,003,686.00 | $218,524,113.00 | $796,903,000.00 | $2,444,838,589.00 |
| 1998 | $245,494,740.00 | $1,483,720,831.00 | $208,078,660.00 | $955,990,000.00 | $2,893,284,231.00 |
| 1997 | $249,376,474.00 | $1,495,314,962.00 | $195,365,474.00 | $1,106,880,000.00 | $3,046,936,910.00 |
| 1996 | $251,072,820.00 | $1,537,248,261.00 | $189,223,177.00 | $1,026,580,000.00 | $3,004,124,258.00 |
| 1995 | $249,220,932.00 | $2,016,377,674.00 | $204,133,515.00 | $968,270,000.00 | $3,438,002,121.00 |
| 1994 | $236,907,624.00 | $1,354,350,790.00 | $180,323,789.00 | $860,900,000.00 | $2,632,482,203.00 |
| 1993 | $228,700,638.00 | $1,198,412,727.00 | $166,060,668.00 | $822,250,000.00 | $2,415,424,033.00 |
| 1992 | $211,629,900.00 | $1,501,696,726.00 | $157,130,231.00 | $706,300,000.00 | $2,576,756,857.00 |
| 1991 | $289,960,960.00 | $1,510,942,029.00 | $159,101,891.00 | $989,510,000.00 | $2,949,514,880.00 |
| 1990 | $305,483,271.00 | $1,622,514,307.00 | $163,300,174.00 | $1,000,615,000.00 | $3,091,912,752.00 |
| 1989 | $278,307,289.00 | $1,828,638,602.00 | $177,847,749.00 | $1,058,990,000.00 | $3,343,783,640.00 |
| 1988 | $247,060,966.00 | $1,961,595,563.00 | $142,034,875.00 | $974,400,000.00 | $3,325,091,404.00 |
| 1987 | $230,258,476.00 | $1,557,322,358.00 | $160,950,917.00 | $947,860,000.00 | $2,896,391,751.00 |
| 1986 | $210,233,807.00 | $1,200,415,825.00 | $126,861,497.00 | $973,767,000.00 | $2,511,278,129.00 |
| 1985 | $215,399,383.00 | $1,080,462,099.00 | $138,110,277.00 | $1,089,675,000.00 | $2,523,646,759.00 |
| 1984 | $197,919,044.00 | $1,086,328,701.00 | $124,154,204.00 | $1,016,985,000.00 | $2,425,386,949.00 |
| 1983 | $169,352,732.00 | $1,192,373,393.00 | $139,540,000.00 | $573,962,000.00 | $2,075,228,125.00 |
| 1982 | $175,094,270.00 | $1,142,075,461.00 | $96,446,000.00 | $619,900,000.00 | $2,033,515,731.00 |
| 1981 | $180,322,174.00 | $1,397,118,688.00 | $108,272,000.00 | $540,800,000.00 | $2,226,512,862.00 |
| 1980 | $217,816,167.00 | $1,473,558,832.00 | $139,992,056.00 | $445,430,000.00 | $2,276,797,055.00 |
2 comments:
Thanks Bernard, this is very interesting. I didn't have any idea of the scale of revenue involved, nor how it has changed over the years, besides a vague idea that prices for metals had collapsed some time ago.
The problem here is the problem with all resource-extraction economies that pin most of their activity on one commodity, one that has great swings in price, and let it go too cheaply. What money does come in comes in, is spent quickly and you have a bunch of empty mountains. Alberta has made the same mistake with the oil sands. A carbon tax on coal exports is a good idea.
Production of lead and zinc fell a lot when Sullivan in Kimberly closed. Trail has long got their concentrate from Alaska railing it in via Washington.
Coal is mostly metallurgical for steel making rather than thermal for power production. Prices have dropped in the past year. Some carbon is sequestered when steel is made, unlike in thermal, as steel is generally Fe3C. Accounting would be do-able but not simple for a carbon tax for coal exporting.
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