Middle Point coal terminal

 seaport, coal storage/terminal

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Coal mined at the Quinsam Mine of Hillsbrough Resources is transported to the Middle Point barge facility. Coal is loaded by underground conveyors on to 5,000-10,000 tonne barges.

The majority of coal (70%) is bought by overseas clients. Quinsam barges this coal to a ship loading facility on Texada Island where the coal can be loaded onto both Handy (35,000 tonne) and Panamax (65,000 tonne) sized ships. Internationally, Quinsam coal is used in Japanese steel mills (in a process known as pulverized coal injection) and in power plants in Mexico and Chile.

About 30% of this coal is barged directly to power plants in Tacoma, and to cement plants in Vancouver and Seattle areas. At the cement plants it is burned for heating their kilns. After the burning, the cement plants take the ash clinkers and use them to form a portion of the cement powder. Cement from these plants has been used in the construction of GM Place, Skytrain, Safeco Field, and Seahawk Stadium.