Tumbler Ridge was built to provide a labour force for the coal mining industry, which has remained the dominant employer throughout the town's history.
A $1.4 billion Murray River coal mine project near Tumbler Ridge, operated by HD Mining International, a company majority-owned by Huiyong Holdings Group, a private company from China uses long-wall mining in which "coal is extracted along a wall in large blocks and then carried out on a conveyor belt."