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The Foothills Collieries |
| The Foothills Collieries was first mined as an underground operation beginning in 1918 by the Central Alberta Hard Coal Company. It was sold a year later to Windatt Coal Company and flourished. The Coal from Foothills was marketed in the northern region of Alberta and British Columbia. Like all of the mines on the Lovett Branch, Foothills coal was primarily used for domestic heating. Mining was therefore limited to winter production. The community was somewhat distinctive in that the workers were predominantly Ukrainian immigrants and descendants. The Foothills mine continued to operate through the depression and WW2 and was the second last mine to close in the Coal Branch in 1961. The former townsite of Foothills is located within the Luscar Sterco (1977)Ltd lease. |