Coal Resources, Taber-Manyberries Area, Alberta

The Taber-Manyberries area occupies the southernmost Alberta Plains between longitudes 110 degrees and 113 degree west, and latitudes 49 degrees and 50& #176;15'' north. It consists of a gently rolling, till-covered plain between two flat topped unglaciated uplands, the Cypress Hills on the east and the Del Bonita Upland on the west, cut by numerous erosional channels, some drift-buried, others containing existing drainage systems. The area is underlain by Upper Cretaceous strata which dip gently east and west from the central Sweetgrass Arch axis. Much of the exposed bedrock belongs to the continental Foremost, Oldman, St. Mary River, Eastend and Edmonton Formations, and contains coal seams and coaly sediments. Although coal deposits in all formations (but especially Foremost and Oldman) have been exploited in the past, no deposit is believed suitable for large-scale strip mining. Two deposits, lignitic coal in the Eastend Formation at Thelma and Elkwater, and High Volatile ''C'' Bituminous coal in the Oldman Formation at Lethbridge contain enough reserves to support extensive underground mining; only the latter is likely to be an economic proposition.