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Or sign-in if you have an account.The Water Not Coal group has so far gathered more than 200,000 signatures, according to Corb Lund. Photo by Gavin Young/PostmediaAustralia’s richest woman wants to mine coal in the Rocky Mountains and one of Canada’s most famous country music singers has built a coalition of ranchers, fishermen and environmentalists to stop the project.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorA unit of billionaire Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd. is seeking government permission to reopen the Grassy Mountain mine in Alberta to extract coal used in steel production.The project has been previously rejected because of concerns it would damage water quality and harm wildlife. Hancock’s not alone. Separately, Valory Resources Inc. wants to dig for metallurgic coal nearby.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againEnter Corb Lund, a winner of the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy and multiple Canadian Country Music Association awards. The 57-year-old Albertan wants provincial leaders to impose a moratorium on new coal projects in the eastern Rockies.For almost half a century, new coal mines in Alberta were tightly restricted to a select group of areas. But in 2020, the province temporarily scrapped the policy and began selling mining leases in previous no-go zones, only to suspend those sales the following year. In 2025, the restrictions were lifted again, triggering legal action by environmentalists.“I’ve never spoken out in 30 years in the public eye about any issue politically ever, except for this one, because it was so egregious,” Lund said during an interview. “The risks are so high on this and the rewards are so low that the only people benefiting from it are the foreign coal companies and a handful of people that get the jobs.”A Rinehart representative didn’t respond to a request for commentHancock Prospecting’s Northback subsidiary has reduced the size of its initial proposal by 40 per cent and cut the planned mining rate almost in half to 2.5 million tons a year, chief executive Mike Young said in an interview in Calgary. The developer also plans to build a water-treatment facility and bury selenium exposed during mining to negate the need for tailings dams, he said.“Just because your company is owned by a foreign company doesn’t give you any legal ability to shirk your responsibilities,” Young said. “We are a Canadian company that’s owned by an Australian company. We have all the obligations of a Canadian company owned by a Canadian.”Canada is the world’s eighth-largest producer of metallurgic coal and Alberta ranks number two domestically behind British Columbia.Although coal-fired power generation is being phased out in Canada, the price of metallurgic coal — the kind used to make steel — are near historic highs following a rally that kicked off in 2021.A joint federal and provincial review board rejected the Grassy Mountain project five years ago on environmental concerns, finding that “the adverse environmental effects on surface water quality and westslope cutthroat trout and its habitat outweigh the positive economic impacts.”As a result, the board deemed the development “not in the public interest.” Hancock is suing the Canadian government for $2 billion in damages under an international trade dispute mechanism.Around 3,000 volunteers have been out in force through the harsh winter and early spring months gathering signatures on sidewalks across the province and placing signs in windows and on front lawns. Country music star Corb Lund is leading the push to block coal mining in the eastern Rocky Mountains of Alberta.Norma Dougall, a canvasser for the Water Not Coal petition who owns property near the proposed mine, said she was part of the first public hearings on the project.“We naively thought that logic and common sense and science prevailed and that it was going away and now it’s back on again,” she said during an interview at a Calgary street festival.“So we’re trying to get a permanent ban so this issue doesn’t keep popping up and down because water is really the most valuable resource versus coal, especially coal from an Australian coal miner selling it to Asia,” she said.Lund was in Edmonton this week to submit the petition to Elections Alberta. If they gather roughly 178,000 verified signatures, the question will be put to Premier Danielle Smith’s cabinet to decide whether to act on it or put the question to voters alongside 10 others in an Oct. 19 referendum.Smith has said publicly that if the petition is successful she will add it to the autumn ballot. The Water Not Coal group has so far gathered more than 200,000 signatures, according to Lund.The project is still a ways away from regulatory approval. Northback’s revised application will go to public feedback and regulatory review for two years and then face another public hearing.“Alberta’s biggest thing is the environment,” said Donna Clement, a volunteer gathering petition signatures outside a Calgary sporting goods store. “That’s what we’re known for around the world. Not necessarily the oil and gas, but the mountains and everything that goes with it. So that’s important to me.”—With assistance from Paul-Alain Hunt. 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