Crown Mountain reaches review milestone
Company is preparing a revised application while developing training plans with Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it First Nation
Crown Mountain Resources says it is preparing a revised environmental assessment application for its proposed steelmaking coal mine near Sparwood after completing a major stage of the provincial review.
Dave Baines, the company’s director of project development, updated Sparwood council July 21 on the regulatory process and an early employment and training initiative with Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it First Nation.
The BC Environmental Assessment Office issued a Section 27 notice for the Crown Mountain project May 26 after reviewing the company’s 2024 application.
Baines said the notice means the company has responded to the technical questions and requested changes raised during the application review.
The company must now incorporate those responses and project changes into a revised application.
“This is conformity, not technical,” Baines said of the next review stage.
He said the conformity review will determine whether the revised application follows the directions contained in the Section 27 notice. It will not constitute a decision on whether the project should proceed.
Crown Mountain Resources plans to circulate draft sections to technical reviewers before submitting the revised application by the end of 2026.
Baines said the conformity review can take up to 60 days. The project would then move into the effects assessment phase, when the provincial and federal governments would prepare reports and recommendations for their respective decision-makers.
He said the provincial process provides 150 days to prepare the recommendation and 30 days for a ministerial decision, although timelines may be extended.
The company is targeting a possible environmental assessment decision in mid-2027, followed by permitting later that year or into 2028. The schedule is a company estimate and remains dependent on regulatory decisions.
The proposed project is approximately seven kilometres northeast of Sparwood in the Alexander Creek valley.
The company plans to mine three open pits and produce an average of approximately two million clean tonnes of coal annually over a 15-year mine life. Its direct project footprint, excluding buffers and contingency areas, is approximately 851 hectares.
Baines also told council the company officially changed its name from NWP Coal Canada to Crown Mountain Resources on June 1.
He said the change was intended to distinguish the company from other coal developers with “north” in their names and more closely associate it with the project.
Crown Mountain Resources and Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it signed an early training and employment initiative June 5.
The initiative is intended to prepare Nation members for possible work, contracting and oversight opportunities before the project reaches construction.
Plans include an employment and training co-ordinator, a joint working group and the development of apprenticeship, scholarship, work-placement and certification pathways.
Baines said the parties are also working toward a shared prosperity agreement addressing the Nation’s involvement in project planning, development, operation and reclamation.
He said the initiative builds on a consent agreement signed in 2023 under which the company committed not to proceed unless it earns the Nation’s consent.
Councillor Sam Atwal asked whether training could also be offered in Sparwood and whether the College of the Rockies could participate.
Baines said the college is already part of discussions with Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it. He said the company also intends to develop training opportunities for non-Indigenous residents as the project advances.
Council received the presentation without making a decision on the project.