Cardel, AB: 1956-2022 Paintearth Coal Mine and Two Draglines

(Satellite)

"Brutus" was a Marion 8200 and the boom was energetically felled on Jun 18, 2023

"Bigfoot" was a B-E 1570W

The mine has moved into reclamation mode after supplying up to 3m tonnes annually to the Battle River Generating Station for more than six decades. The reclamation project will employ municipal organic waste from Edmonton to prepare the soil for fast-growing willow as a sustainable biomass/green energy feedstock. The mine produced subbituminous coal for the nearby Battle River Generating Station. [MiningDataOnline]

IrwinSafety

cim

This mine, and the Sheerness Mine, have been closed because the mine-mouth power station was converted to natural gas. [HannaHerald]

Tim Swaren Flickr
Paintearth Mine
Marion 8200 " Brutus " dragline. When Brutus was first built, it was in the same paint scheme as the " Bigfoot " dragline, as it also was built by Alberta Power. In 1988, Alberta Power changed their corporate paint scheme from yellow and blue to blue and white. The Brutus dragline was repainted in these colours, however, for some reason, Bigfoot was not. Most likely a matter of money. The two mining companies at the time, Manalta Coal and Luscar Coal, were told by Alberta Power they could change the paint scheme of the draglines if they so desired, but they had to foot the bill. Manalta was a little cheaper than Luscar, so they didn't do it.

Tim Swaren Flickr
Paintearth Mine-2007
This is a pic of the Bucyrus-Erie 1570W , one of two draglines that operate at the Paintearth Mine. As you can see it is named " Bigfoot". This dragline was commissioned in 1978 and has been working steady ever since - nearly 30 years! It has a 325 ft. boom and a 58 cu.yd. bucket. Originally it worked for Manalta Coal's Vesta Mine, but in 1997 when Manalta was bought out by Luscar Coal, it became property of the Paintearth Mine.

Tim Swaren Flickr
Paintearth Mine
BE 1570W " Bigfoot" This 1570W has a longer boom than a lot of other 1570s. It is 325 ft., I believe.

Dale Tyjeski uploaded five photos as comments on Tim's post below:

1

2

3

4

5

Tim Swaren posted 12 photos with the comment: "The Brutus 8200 at Paintearth Mine earlier today."

Peter Brown: I remember putting a new tub under her back in 2010 🤔…P&H MinePro, and a Pyramid tub.

Matt Kaushagen: The operator's cab is on it's way to Texas for refurbishing before it heads to the east coast.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7
The gate was open and I was tempted to drive in a bit closer but the vehicle you see is a security guard so I didn't! I can't blame them. The copper thieves have been through the machine pretty good, I'm told, and there isn't hardly a single electrical cable or wire left in it.

8
Boom point.

9

10

11

12
Bigfoot IS still standing... for now!
[Some comments indicated that the boom should have been down. They must've had issues.]

William Oldani commented on Tim's 8th photo
The Original 8200 Boom Deflector Tower had 2 Separate Sheave Frames that took a Lot of Shock abuse. We (Lonnie Fulkerson and Myself) redesigned the Streamline tower in 1979 and Saw it materialize on Marion Machines afterword!

Another William Oldani comment

Tim commented on Peter's comment
 I took this pic when that was going on.

Bigfoot came down Jun 23, 2023:

Facebook video

Tim Swaren posted
All of the gantry and boom are gone now on the 8200 Brutus at Paintearth Mine.

Tim Swaren posted four photos with the comment: "Pics courtesy of Alex Burnett, some close-ups of the 1570W Bigfoot being scrapped."

Chase Janus: It's a shame they couldn't keep one of the 2 draglines as a museum piece

1

2

3

4