The Chute Creek coal prospect is situated 17 kilometres southwest of Campbell River, 5 kilometres southeast of the Quinsam coal mine (MINFILE 092F 319).

Four coal seams (Seams A, B, C and D) developed in an 8 to 10.6 metre thick zone of interbedded sandstone, siltstone, shale and carbonaceous shale of the Upper Cretaceous Comox Formation (Nanaimo Group) underlie a 1000 metre by 2000 metre area between Chute Creek and Woodhus Creek. The seams likely correlate with the number three seam (zone) of the Quinsam mine. The strata dip gently northward, similar to the prevailing slope of the local topography. The deposit is cut by three steep normal faults with displacements of between 10 and 36 metres. The four seams range in thickness from 0.36 to 1.15 metres with the upper most seam being the thickest (0.89 to 1.15 metres). Open pit and underground mineable reserves (measured, indicated and inferred) are as follows (Coal Assessment Report 701, page 48) (in tonnes):

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  Seam      Reserves
    A       1,928,500
    B         529,400
    C         414,800
    D         471,900
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This thermal coal is of high volatile B bituminous rank, with a dry, ash free heat content of 8038 calories per gram. Sulphur in the four seams varies from 0.47 per cent to 5.63 per cent, with the A Seam containing 0.88 per cent to 4.54 per cent sulphur. Free swelling indices range from 0.5 to 4.

This deposit was discovered by Sulpetro Minerals in 1982. Nuspar Resources Ltd. carried out mapping, trenching and 1013 metres of rotary and core drilling in 1984 and 1985.

In 1985, combined (measured, indicated and inferred) reserves at Chute Creek were approximately 3,344,600 tonnes of high volatile B bituminous rank thermal coal (Coal Assessment Report 701, page 48).