The Du Pont (Wolverine) coal occurrence is located about 4.1 kilometres northeast of the Mesa pit (Quintette, 093P 019) approximately 13 kilometres south-southwest of the community of Tumbler Ridge.
The lower-upper Gates Formation (Fort St. John Group) is 300 metres thick and contains four thick seams equivalent to the D, E, G and J seams of the Quintette area (093P 019, 20). These are interbedded with sandstone, siltstone and shale and occur towards the base of the Lower Cretaceous Gates Formation. Fewer thin seams occur in the upper Gates Formation. See Quintette (093P 019) for regional geology, stratigraphy and production statistics.
At the Wolverine occurrence, seam D is 2.93 metres thick of which 1.77 metres is coal. The seam contains 49.6 per cent ash total, of which 25.0 per cent is in the coal. Seam E is 5.34 metres thick of which 4.20 metres is coal and contains 33 per cent ash total, of which 19.0 per cent is in the coal. Seam G is 2.0 metres thick of which 1.42 metres is coal and contains 47.3 per cent ash total, of which 16.0 per cent is in the coal. Seam J is 3.55 metres thick of which 3.2 metres is coal and contains 18.6 per cent ash total, of which 9.6 per cent is in the coal.
The structure consists of a series of broad to tighter northwest-trending folds, dominated by an anticline in the north. Folds appear to be tighter towards the south. The folds are cut by northwest trending, southwest dipping thrust faults. A normal strike fault may be present in the southeast extremity of the property.
The Murray River developed prospect (093P 035) lies within the old Du Pont Wolverine property.
In 1972, the John T. Boyd Company conducted a coal reserve study and mining plan for the Mount Babcock area of the Quintette project. The property extended from Kinuseo Creek in the south to Perry Creek in the north. An outcrop of the D seam was reported to occur, in the property, on the northwestern flank of Mount Babcock. The outcrop was at an elevation ranging from 1590 to 1680 metres, with the other seams outcropping at corresponding lower elevations. The Wolverine North property was explored at this time with ten drillholes.
In 1973, Kerr-McGee Corporation drilled a test gas well (Mast b-60-A) on license No. 3921, and in 1974 a second well (Mast d-80-A) about 2 kilometres to the north. Lithologic and electric logs for these wells indicated the presence of numerous subsurface coal seams. In 1978, Northern Geophysical, under contract to British Petroleum, carried out seismic profiling on four lines across the property.
In 1978 and 1979, Du Pont of Canada Exploration Limited conducted reconnaissance geological mapping and drilled two vertical exploratory diamond drill holes on their Wolverine Project. A total of 697.2 metres were drilled. The first hole (79-1) intersected a repeated section caused by thrusting and was abandoned without reaching the target seams at a depth of 328 metres. The second hole (79-2) penetrated four major Gates coal seams and numerous minor seams. Because of mechanical difficulties, the hole was bottomed at a depth of 369 metres, still in coal (Coal Assessment Report 515).
Diamond-drill hole 79-2 is located on a pre-existing seismic line, 500 metres southwest of gas test well (Mast b-60-A) for which geological information is available. The hole entered bedrock in the Lower Cretaceous Boulder Creek Formation (Fort St. John Group), cut a complete section of Lower Cretaceous Hulcross Formation (Fort St. John Group) shales and entered the Gates Formation at 194 metres. Several thin coal seams were intersected between 198 metres and 226 metres. The first significant seam of good quality coking coal was intersected at 302 metres and from there to the bottom of the hole at 369 metres, four significant coal seams were intersected. These are interpreted as being equivalent to the D, E, G and J seams of the Quintette property (093P 019). The hole became very tight during the drilling of the lowermost seam and, in spite of all attempts to continue, drilling had to be abandoned at 369.15 metres while still in coal. The full thickness of the seam is therefore not known and it was not possible to lower the logging tools far enough to obtain electric logs of this seam (Coal Assessment Report 515).
