Open File Report 1970-03

Author(s) Date 1970-04-30

Recent months have seen an explosive growth of interest in Alberta Foothills coals, chiefly those coals suitable for the manufacture of metallurgical coke. A considerable amount of geological data on coal-bearing strata in the area has emanated over the years from the Geological Survey of Canada in the form of Memoirs, Reports and Preliminary Reports; and the Canada Mines Branch has issued a number of chemical analyses of cools from producing mines in its irregular publications entitled 'Analysis-Directory of Canadian Coals'. However, the only single compendium of information on the chemical nature and industrial value of Alberta coals has been Report 35 of the Research Council of Alberta (Stansfield and Lang, 1944), unfortunately slanted towards the defunct domestic market and in any case now out of print.

The Coal Division of the Research Council is in the process of compiling a somewhat different and more up-to-date report on systematics and chemistry of Alberta coals, but this cannot be available to the general public for at least another year. Meantime there is a continuing demand for an elementary introduction to the study of coal, especially of the coals of the Alberta Foothills; and, as a temporary measure, Research Council staff has extracted, by xeroxcopy (chiefly from Report 35 and Report 66-5 (Campbell, 1966)), the following notes which are believed to be most pertinent to the present situation, together with a few paragraphs of annotation where necessary.

Campbell, J.D. (1970): Alberta Foothills coal, extracts from published reports of Research Council of Alberta, with annotations; Research Council of Alberta, RCA/AGS Open File Report 1970-03, 76 p.