By Ian McInnes

October 14, 2018 - In the second week of September, Hinton, Alberta-based Bighorn Mining Ltd. (Bighorn) announced that it had appointed Delbert (D.L.) Lobb as the president of the company. “Lobb brings substantial operating and executive leadership experience to the team, highlighted by his management expertise and engineering knowledge honed from positions at coal mine operations around the world. Lobb will be responsible for the continued development of Coalspur’s Vista mine complex and its subsequent commercial operation scheduled for commencement in early 2019,” said a spokesperson for Bighorn in a statement.

The thermal coal mine project was approved by Hinton Town Council in 2012.

“His responsibilities will include surface and underground operations, preparation, engineering, environmental, and regulatory compliance, public relations, human resources, aboriginal engagement, accounting, purchasing, safety compliance and maintenance. He will report directly to senior vice president of Cutlass Collieries, Michael Snelling.” Lobb will be based in Hinton.

Lobb is a 38 year veteran of the mining industry working in the U.S., South America and Asia. He has held senior operational and executive mining positions with Peabody Energy as COO over all USA operations and business development in Mongolia and China, Westmoreland Coal Company as CEO, Barrick Gold Corporation in South America and Drummond Coal in Colombia, South America.

“D.L. has built an impressive record of operational accomplishments, “said CEO Paul Vining in a statement. “His experience in developing high performance teams and effectiveness in communicating with all organizational levels and within unique geographic regions to achieve world-class status in safety, productivity and financial performance make him the right person to execute the company’s strategic priorities.”

According to the Environmental Impact Assessment great change and with it perhaps great opportunity could be coming to the area, a section from page A-37 reads as follows:

“The population impact of the Project is expected to fall primarily on the Town of Hinton as it is the fully serviced urban municipality closest to the project. The new jobs created by the Project are expected to be filled primarily by in-migrants to the region. By the year 2021, an estimated 2,200 people are expected to have re-located to the region, with the bulk of them finding a home in Hinton.”