The Teepee Mountain occurrence is located approximately 25 kilometres northeast of Sparwood, British Columbia, and approximately 7 kilometres south of the Line Creek coal mine (MINFILE 082GNE020).

Four mappable coal seams, with an aggregate thickness of 9.0 metres, occur in approximately 55 metres of lower coal-bearing Jurassic-Cretaceous Mist Mountain Formation (Kootenay Group) strata. The coal seams of medium volatile bituminous rank are interbedded with sandstone, siltstone and shale. The stratigraphically lowest seam, the Basal sandstone seam, ranges from 1.17 to 1.82 metres in thickness and may not be continuous over the proposed pit area. Seam 10 B varies from 1.15 to 1.80 metres in thickness and thins towards the south. Seam 10 A ranges from 1.0 to 1.6 metres in thickness. Seam 9 varies from 1.60 to 5.60 metres in thickness, thins towards the south and contains the bulk of the surface mineable reserves at Teepee Mountain. A seam, (1.25 metres thick), was encountered above seam 9 in outcrop.

The Teepee Mountain property is located on the axis of the Fording River syncline. Thrust faulting (north trending, both west and east dipping) is intense. Normal faults (east-northeast trending, downfaulted both to the north and south) are also present.

The coal (clean, air dried basis, specific gravity 1.6) contains on average 10.19 per cent ash, 21.10 per cent volatile matter, 67.10 per cent fixed carbon with a kilocalorie/kilogram value of 6717.

Exploration was conducted by Crowsnest Resources Ltd. on behalf of Shell Canada Resources Ltd. in 1980, 1981, 1988, and 1989. Geological mapping, backhoe trenching, diamond and rotary drilling, bulk sampling, and resource modelling were completed during this time (Coal Assessment Reports 446, 447, 751).

As of 1981, geological reserves were estimated to be 4 million tonnes with an overburden ratio of 4.39:1. Of these, 2.1 million tonnes are probable reserves (Coal Assessment Report 447). Grade based on reflectivity and average volatile matter content. After the 1989 exploration program, another 400,000 tonnes of coal was discovered. Reserves were calculated at 4.4 million tonnes of coal with an overburden ratio of 4.06:1 bank cubic metres waste per tonne of coal. Of this, 2.4 million tonnes were considered to be in the probable category (pre National Instrument 43-101), with an overburden ratio of 2.20:1, the rest of the reserves were considered in the possible category (Coal Assessment Report 751).