The characteristic rock of this shale member of the Nanaimo Group, Haslam Formation is a black, dense, homogenous, very fine-grained, non-calcareous mud rock, occurring in massive beds, as much as 4.6 metres thick. The best and most continuous exposure is in Roger Creek and its tributary Fourmile Creek. For the most part, however, the shale does not outcrop and the area underlain by it is drift covered.

Samples of this shale were collected from a pit on the Alberni- Nanaimo highway about 5 kilometres from Alberni and sent to a ceramics laboratory for testing. The material had a fusion temp- erature of cone 5 (1235 degrees Celsius). When ground and tempered with 14.5 per cent water it was found to be low in plasticity and could not be used alone for making hollow-ware. Tests were completed using both the wet moulded and semi-dry press methods of brick making. The fired bricklets were pink-buff in colour and hard in texture, however, the wet moulded bricklets were scummed and the semi-dry bricklets were friable on the edges. Refer to Geological Survey of Canada Summary Report of 1922, Part A, page 58A for a complete data tabulation of the firing characteristics.