BC upholds $800,000 Anglo American penalty 

British Columbia’s Environmental Appeal Board has upheld a ruling that handed Anglo American  (LSE: AAL) an $800,000 (US$580,000) fine after it repeatedly failed to comply with its environmental permit at its Trend Roman coal mine in the province’s northeast.

The Aug. 27 decision was first reported by Business in Vancouver. The penalty was the largest ever issued by the B.C. Ministry of the Environment under the Environmental Management Act when it was first handed down.

Infractions included failing to monitor mine waste discharge into fish-bearing waters and neglecting to limit airborne particulate emissions. The mine failed to limit the discharge of selenium into three nearby creeks and rivers, according to the board’s decision.

Selenium is naturally occurring but is toxic in greater concentrations, causing deformities, reproductive failure and population declines in fish and birds. Some of the levels exceeded limits by 350% and date to 2016, according to the original 2022 decision.

Shares in Anglo American fell 1.3% to close at £22.57 in London on Thursday. They’ve fallen 1.2% this week.  

Former Anglo asset

The Peace River coal mine was a metallurgical coal mine 30 km south of Tumbler Ridge was owned by Anglo American and suspended production in 2014 due to low coal prices. The mine operated through Anglo subsidiary Peace River Coal. This past February, the idled mine was sold to Conuma Resources, a coal miner with operations in the area. 

According to the decision, the Director concluded that Peace River had violated the permit by not submitting quarterly reports (six times) and one annual report as required.

The Director also determined that there were 40 times when levels exceeded limits at a second monitoring station downstream. The Director considered this to be a “major” contravention, with an associated base amount of $20,000 per day. 

Other coal mines

Conuma Resources resumed mining at its Quintette coal mine in northeastern B.C. last year, 24 years after it was placed in care and maintenance. 

It now operates four mines in the province — Brule, Wolverine, Willow Creek, and Quintette — it acquired the latter in 2022 from Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B; NYSE: TECK) for $120 million.

In June 2024, Conuma was fined for over 400 environmental protection violations at its Brule mine site, committed between 2020 and 2023. These infractions included failing to monitor mine waste discharge into fish-bearing waters and neglecting to limit airborne particulate emissions.