Coal Occurrences and Related Geology, Fox Creek Area, Alberta

The Fox Creek area, Alberta, which lies between longitudes 116 degrees 0'' and 118 degrees 0'' west and latitudes 54 degrees 15'' and 55 degrees 15'' north, is underlain entirely by non-marine, coal-bearing bedrock of the Wapiti Formation. Within the area, the Wapiti appears to consist of three stratigraphic divisions which correlate roughly with the Belly River Group, the Edmonton Formation and the Paskapoo Formation of the central Alberta Plains; the Kneehills Member, Edmonton Formation, is traceable with certainty westward as far as the Simonette River. Five more or less distinct horizons of coaly strata are recognizable, one in Belly River-equivalent strata, three in Edmonton- equivalent and one in Paskapoo-equivalent strata. Only one of the five coaly horizons, the uppermost in Edmonton-equivalent strata, contains economically significant quantities, but this, a stratigraphic correlative of the Ardley coal zone of the central Alberta Plains, contains immense reserves. Its chief region of outcrop, between Losegun and Meekwap Lakes, is believed to contain approximately 340 million tons of subbituminous coal mostly under less than 100 feet of overburden. High effective ash contents, glacial deformation of bedrock strata and extensive postglacial slumping will make exploration and comparatively difficult.