Skonun Point is located on the northeast coast of Graham Island 6.4 kilometres east of Masset.
In 1910, The Queen Charlotte Islands Collieries, Limited, was incorporated for the purpose of acquiring, developing and working 15,540 hectares of coal measures situated near Masset Inlet.
In 1913, the American-Canadian Coal Company, Limited, drilled an inclined bore-hole to a depth of 305 metres. Analysis from an air dried sample from the thickest seam gave these results: water, 11.03 per cent; volatile matter, 49.75 per cent; fixed carbon, 35.94 per cent; ash, 3.28 per cent; coke, 39.22 per cent; and a fuel ratio of 0.72. Reserves were estimated in 1913 at 60,000,000 long tons.
A preliminary estimate of probable mineable reserves by Mackay for the Royal Commission on coal, in 1946, was 67,200,000 tons.
In 1958 detailed drilling was done by Richfield Oil Corporation of Canada Ltd.
Shell Canada Limited investigated the property in the mid 1960's.
Lignite of Tertiary Age occurs in the Skonun Formation in the northeast portion of Graham Island. The Skonum Formation is comprised mainly of sandstone, shale and siltstone, with less conglomerate, lignite and marl. The lignite outcrops at various locations with the type locality being at Skonun Point. The coal has also been encountered in drillholes in various parts of the region.
Nine beds of lignite are exposed at Skonun Point interbedded with sandstone and silty shale. The thickest bed is 0.9 metres thick and the aggregate thickness is approximately 6.1 metres. Thirteen beds were intersected in a nearby drillhole. One of the seams is 1.8 metres thick but the aggregate thickness for this drillhole has not been recorded. The lignite at Skonun Point contains 11.03 per cent to 22.5 per cent water, 37.5 per cent to 49.75 per cent volatile matter, 31.5 per cent to 36.5 per cent fixed carbon, 1.0 per cent to 3.5 per cent ash, and 0.3 per cent sulphur (ultimate analysis). The carbonaceous deposits vary from a tough fibrous or woody lignite to black shiny coal with concoidal fracture.
The lignites at Skonun Point occur within an east-west trending anticline which plunges west. The north limb dips approximately 20 degrees north and dips on the south limb vary from 50 degrees south near the fold axis to 25 degrees south further south. The anticline is faulted along the axis.
The Tertiary Basin in northeastern Graham Island is separated into two subbasins by an east-west ridge just south of Masset. Lignite has been encountered at Skonun Point, Yakan Point, Tow Hill and Masset in the northern subbasin and at Nadu, Cape Ball, Gold Creek, Tlell and Lawnhill in the southern subbasin. No thick coal beds are reported in the southern basin while in the north the aggregate thickness of thin seams may be considerable.
