Iron Occurrences in the Peace River Region, Alberta

Since 1955 when Premier Steel Mills Limited started operations in Edmonton, interest in the establishment of a basic iron and steel industry in Alberta has increased. As all the raw materials for the production of iron and steel are available in Alberta, the beginning of such an industry awaits only adequate markets. This report describes the deposits of one of these raw materials, the iron-rich sandstones in the Clear Hills area of northwestern Alberta.

Exploration by private interests between 1953 and 1957 has outlined two deposits, each containing 500 million to 1 billion long tons with a grade of about 33 per cent iron.

The Peace River region of Alberta is shown in figure 1. Railways, highways and airlines connect the Peace River region to Edmonton and Vancouver. The chief iron occurrences are found in the Clear Hills (Fig. 1) which is approximately 50 miles northwest of the Town of Peace River, and 25 miles north of Hines Creek, a terminus of the Northern Alberta Railway. These deposits may be reached from Worsley and Eureka River, on the Hines Creek - Fort St. John gravelled road. A dirt road about 40 miles long leads from Eureka River Post Office to the Notikewin fire tower, 2 miles east of an iron occurrence on Swift Creek. This deposit may be reached on foot from the fire tower along an abandoned seismic trail. Other occurrences of a red-weathering ferriferous sandstone can be reached on rough roads, up to 9 miles long, which extend northward from the gravelled road, east of Worsley. In the wet weather the last 5 miles of these roads may be impassable. Most of the lesser occurrences south of the Peace River are accessible by section roads.