Coal in Alberta, Canada

Coal and Related Carbon Resources / Exploration, Production, Coal Ash, & Rare Earths

Date posted: 07/09/10

Alberta contains vast amounts of coal distributed throughout the southern Plains, Foothills, and Mountains. The AER estimates there are 91 billion tonnes of coal resources at depth suitable for mining. There is an additional 2 trillion tonnes of coal at depth in the Alberta Plains that may be suited for coalbed methane (CBM) exploration. Coal in the Foothills and Mountains would also significantly add to this tonnage. Coal typically occurs within a "coal zone," as discrete coal seams or packages of several thin and thick seams interbedded with non-coaly rock layers or beds. A coal zone may be traceable over a large geographic area. In Alberta, the coal zones are found in strata ranging in age from Late Jurassic (approximately 145 million years old) to Tertiary (approximately 65 million years old; see the stratigraphic chart). Most of the coal zones in Alberta have CBM potential.