The Hosmer Wheeler occurrence including the past producing Hosmer Wheeler mine is located approximately 19 kilometres northeast of Fernie, British Columbia, on the Hosmer and Wheeler Ridges on the east side of highway 3.

The Hosmer mine opened in 1908 and began shipments in December of that year (Annual Report 1908). The mine was in operation through to the middle of 1914, when operations suspended. Over the life of the mine, over 780,000 tonnes of coal were produced.

At Hosmer Wheeler, approximately 79 metres of coal occurs in the Jurassic-Cretaceous Mist Mountain Formation (Kootenay Group), which is 762 metres thick. The coal is interbedded with sandstone, siltstone and shale. The main seams are 2 (3.7 to 4.6 metres), 3 (3.7 to 19.8 metres), 4 (2.4 to 7.9 metres), 8 (7.9 to 10.1 metres), 9 (4.3 to 7.9 metres), 10 (3.7 to 4.9 metres) and 11 (4.3 to 4.6 metres). Ash content ranges from 7.9 to 9.9 per cent, volatile matter from 20.9 to 30.3 per cent, fixed carbon from 61.8 to 70.0 per cent and BTU/LB from 13,630 to 14,436 (dry basis). Coal seams 2 and 3 are high volatile bituminous in rank, seam 4 is medium to high volatile bituminous, while the lower seams 8, 9, 10 and 11 are medium volatile bituminous.

The structure is dominated by a broad open syncline which plunges southwest 10-30 degrees. The strata dips east on the Fernie and Hosmer ridges, swings south across the centre of the property and dips west on the Wheeler Ridge. The strata are cut by numerous north to north-northwest trending, both west and east dipping thrust faults and steeper normal faults.

Kaiser Resources Ltd. began intensively exploring Hosmer Ridge in 1970, and in 1974 joined with Mitsui Mining Co. Ltd. to form Kaiser Coal Canada Ltd. to complete a feasibility study considering hydraulic mining as a means for coal extraction. Exploration between 1974 through 1976 included road construction, geological mapping, driving new adits, and diamond and rotary drilling (Geology, Exploration and Mining in BC 1974, Exploration and Mining in BC 1975; 1976). This work was completed along with a preliminary economic assessment (Coal Assessment Report 337) and a stage two environmental assessment (Coal Assessment Report 338).

Measured geological reserves are 35,289,818 tonnes of clean coal seams 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 and 11 (Coal Assessment Report 338). Geological mining reserves are estimated at 44,479,648 tonnes of which 35,289,818 tonnes will be recoverable (Coal Assessment Report 338).