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C R E AT E D BY BCBusiness I N PA RT N E RS H I P W IT H NORTH COAL reduction of potential adverse impact." North Coal is equally committed to thorough and thoughtful care of the site's natural environment. Leigh Anne Isaac, senior wildlife biologist with VAST Resource Solutions, is terrestrial lead for the project's environmental assessment portion. She has done acoustic surveys for bats, badger inventory and habitat assessment, large wildlife habitat suitability mapping and more to ensure that the environmen- tal assessment is rigorous and well informed, and that the project can proceed with minimal impact to wildlife. The difference she sees with North Coal is a "deep sense of doing the right thing." "They're collecting rigorous long-term baseline information to inform the work that they're doing, and really taking innovative approaches to design by marrying design with environmental consider- ations," Isaac says. "In my experience, projects can be further along in the design process, then environmental considerations happen after that. With this project, the two very much occur simulta- neously. And it's because of that commitment of doing things in the right way, in an environmentally sensitive way." Using traditional knowledge Collaboration with Indigenous people for reclamation and closure is at the project's core. Andrew Baisely, senior geoscientist with O'Kane Consultants, says the team turned to the Ktu- naxa First Nation for its traditional knowledge to inform mine design and reclamation plans. "It's really important work because it's the legacy of mining," Baisley says. "In order to continue mining, we have to show we can do better than what we've done in the past. To return the land to something that's useful and desirable for communities is really important from a social point of view and environmental point of view as well." Ultimately, communities are at the very heart of North Coal's work, driving decisions to help produce coal for steel—which is used all over the world, not only for buildings such as hospi- tals and schools but also in green and renewable technology. The company expects to provide 350 to 400 jobs during construction and 250 to 300 jobs during operations. Those aren't just numbers to North Coal, but family members. "We all live and work and play in this area," Pumphrey says. "It's important to our families that we do better. We want to leave a positive legacy for this community." n P R O M O T E D C O N T E N T Northcoal northcoal.ca LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/northcoal