The Parcel 73 occurrence is located approximately 10 kilometres northeast of Hosmer, and 12.5 kilometres southeast of Sparwood, British Columbia. Parcel 73 is an area of 2023.5 hectares, with approximate dimensions of 6 by 3.5 kilometres, situated between the valleys of the Elk River and Michel Creek.
As part of the Crowsnest Pass Agreement, in 1905 the Canadian Pacific Railway transferred ownership of two freehold coal land parcels (Parcels 73 and 82, together comprising the Dominion Coal Block) to the Government of Canada. Exploration and development of these parcels has been prevented due to federal-provincial jurisdictional issues. In August 2013 the Government of Canada announced that it is considering an open competitive sale, which would open the Dominion Coal Block for development. Portions of Parcel 82 that overlap with the Flathead Watershed Conservation area would not be included in the sale.
The Crowsnest coalfield, formed by the Fernie basin, is a complex synclinorium in the Lewis thrust sheet. The major compressional features of the basin are a series of synclines, the most notable being the McEvoy syncline. Parcel 73 can be divided into three distinct structural blocks. The eastern one-third to one-half of the parcel lies in the footwall of the Dominion thrust, and is underlain by gently folded Blairmore Group strata. The second structural block, a structural horse lying between the Dominion thrust and its splay, the Lookout thrust, is characterized by a tight overturned syncline, predominantly in Elk, Cadomin, and Lower Blairmore Group strata, with some Mist Mountain Formation exposed near the northwest corner of the parcel. The third structural block in Parcel 73 has the highest economic potential. It consists of the hangingwall of the Lookout thrust, where it occurs in the southwest corner of Parcel 73. It underlies Lookout Hill at the south end of Sparwood Ridge and the north end of Hosmer Ridge. Strata on the north end of Hosmer Ridge are folded into a broad southwest plunging syncline, but the regional calculated fold axis has an orientation of 165 degrees/12 degrees (trend/plunge). Rocks on Lookout Hill have a general southwesterly dip. The southwest dipping Lookout thrust appears to splay into a series of imbricate thrusts which repeat the basal Kootenay Group. The Lookout sheet within Parcel 73 contains a preserved thickness of between 475 to 500 metres of Mist Mountain Formation strata (Paper 1989-4).
Coal seams of the Jurassic-Cretaceous Mist Mountain Formation (Kootenay Group) are exposed at the surface in the western block of Parcel 73. Several thick, commercial coal seams, the largest of which is the Lookout seam (9-seam), occur between two prominent sandstones, the Moose Mountain sandstone and the Lookout sandstone. Several other thick seams occur above the Lookout sandstone. These have been removed except at the north end of Hosmer Ridge in the southwest of Parcel 73.
Lookout Hill and Hosmer Ridge are the best areas for coal development, with several thick seams dipping 15-25 degrees south to southwest. The best and thickest seams are the Lookout seam (30 metres below the Lookout sandstone) and the Wheeler seam (70 metres above the sandstone). Both seams are split by one and locally by several mudstone/siltstone units. The coal seams are commonly sheared and locally disrupted.
Partial results of bulk sample tests from the Lookout (9) seam report clean coal volatile matter contents (dry, ash free) ranging from 26.9 to 27.8 per cent. Coal is medium to high-volatile bituminous and likely varies across the property. Clean coal ash ranges from 6.0 to 9.2 per cent, sulphur values range from 0.27 to 0.69 per cent, and the Free Swelling Index (9-seam) ranges between 5 and 6 (Coal Assessment Report 79).
Coal licenses were granted in the Dominion Coal Block beginning in 1964 and were later revoked in 1972 at the request of the Government of Canada. Licenses at Parcel 73 during the time were held by Kaiser Resources, who completed geological mapping, 8 rotary drillholes, 12 adits, and 2 test pits between 1969 and 1971 (Paper 1989-4).
Computer modelling of the potential resource at Parcel 73 was published by the BC Geological Survey in 1989, which calculated in situ resources of 76 million tonnes at an overall waste to coal ratio of 4.7:1 bank cubic metres per tonne, potentially feasible for open-pit mining (Paper 1989-4).
