Formation Types Coal Stocks Entrepreneurship

Western Plains

Coal is present in relatively horizontal seams in the prairies of central and southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan. The seams, which may be several kilometres in both length and width, are usually uniform in thickness throughout. The readily accessible plains coal occurs near the surface, overlain by shallow layers of glacial till, soil or rock.

Foothills and mountain regions

The mountainous regions, which straddle the Alberta-British Columbia boundary, contain extensive coal reserves. The geological settings in the foothills and mountain regions are more diverse than those of the plains and seams up to 15 metres thick have been found. However, unlike the plains, the mountain and foothills seams are often more deeply buried, steeply inclined, and faulted.