The province said last year it is expanding restrictions on all new coal exploration and development activities on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains until it finalizes new land use policies.
Northback Holdings Corp., formerly Benga Mining Ltd., is a subsidiary of Australian mining giant Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd, owned by billionaire Gina Rinehart. It still sees opportunity for a potential mine at Grassy Mountain, submitting applications in November to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) for a 105-day exploratory drilling program and a request for a water diversion.
Grassy Mountain is on the site of an old mine that closed about 50 years ago. The new, open-pit mine that Benga proposed for the land forecast production of 93 million tonnes of metallurgical coal over a 23-year life.
The government had been planning to revoke that policy and open up the eastern slopes of the Rockies to open-pit mines, but reversed course…
