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Breaking down the numbers: Economic impact of coal in B.C.

The Pine Valley open pit coal mine in the Peace River District of northeast British Columbia February 23, 2005. Pine Valley Coal Corp.'s Willow Creek coal mine is one of two operations that started last year, breathing new life into the depressed community of Tumbler Ridge. John Lehmann/Globe and Mail. John Lehmann/Globe and Mail

B.C’s coal mining industry generates billions of dollars for the province’s economy and provides jobs for thousands of British Columbians.

Under an aggressive strategy to create eight new mines and expand nine existing ones by 2015, the province hopes to generate an additional $1.6 billion in annual revenue and create an additional 10,000 jobs by 2020.

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The Coal Association of Canada released a report in February on the economic impact of the coal mining industry in 2011. The report, from PricewaterhouseCoopers, broke down the numbers associated with the coal mining industry in B.C.

The numbers:

  • Gross revenues for the B.C. mining industry in 2011 totaled $3.2 billion
  • The coal mining industry paid $715.2 million in tax to all levels of government
  • There are 12.9 billion tonnes of potentially mineable coal resources in B.C.
  • B.C. produces 40 per cent of Canada’s coal
  • Canada is the third largest exporter of metallurgical coal in the world
  • Coal’s share of B.C.’s total export activity: 21.8 per cent
  • Coal industry jobs: 26,000
  • Estimated annual wage for a coal company employee: $95,174

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