Middle Point coal facility

Coal stored at the Middle Point barge facility is loaded by underground conveyors on to 5,000-10,000 tonne barges. About 30% of this coal is barged from Campbell River to locations in and around Vancouver, Seattle, and Tacoma. The coal from the Quinsam mine is used by power plants in Tacoma, and in cement plants in Richmond and Seattle, where 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.

The remainder is bought by overseas clients. Quinsam barges their 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.