Geology and Coal Resources of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Central Alberta

The Horseshoe Canyon Formation includes numerous beds of subbituminous coal within the lowermost 400 to 50 feet which can only be correlated on a regional basis with great difficulty. Two coal zones are tentatively traced across much of the area. The Clover Bar equivalent is recognized as a major zone in the Edmonton area and as far south as Township 42. The Drumheller equivalent is stratigraphically lower and may be correlated from the central part of the region as far south as Drumheller.

Areas in which the best coal seam exceeds 5 feet thick are outlined. Aggregate thicknesses of coal are presented which include the sum of all seams exceeding 3 feet thick in any one section. Areas of potential coal development are defined from these presentations.

Lithofacies studies show generalized variations in facies patterns at consecutive 200-foot intervals above the Bearpaw Formation.

The rock strength properties of roof rock are summarized in terms of laboratory testing of core samples and log interpretation. Mapping of log results suggests a westward progression of increasing minimum rock strengths for approximately the same stratigraphic horizon.

Horseshoe Canyon coal reserves between the depths of 300 feet and about 800 feet amount to 12 billion tons for conventional underground mining or 44 billion tons for multiple seam development methods such as in situ gasification.