The Bulkley River coal occurrence (occurrence L on Geological Survey of Canada Open File 2322) is located 21 kilometres southeast of Hazelton in the Seaton coal basin (Minister of Mines Annual Report 1927, page 161).

The area is underlain by Eocene Moricetown sediments which consist of sandstone, conglomerate, siltstone, shale, coal and epiclastic volcanic sediments. The coal showings are developed in a Tertiary downfaulted sedimentary basin. The coal bearing strata within the basin are known to occupy a 15 square kilometre area. The strata are moderately deformed into an open, east-west–trending syncline, with gentle (00 to 30 degree) dips in the north and 10 to 40 degrees in the south. The coal bearing unit comprises an interfingering of low energy fluvitile sandstones with coal-bearing carbonaceous claystone units.

The coal is reported as a medium volatile bituminous with good coking and thermal properties and seams of to 1.6 metres in thickness are noted in outcrop and to 1.0 metre in drill core.

The first report of coal from this area was in 1881, but most of the original coal exploration work was carried out intermittently between 1900 and 1927 and being focused on the west banks of the Bulkley River. This original exploration work included prospecting, stripping and some tunneling in 1910. A 70-metre tunnel was completed by Wright Coal Company along the “No.1” seam with a cross-slope to the surface in 1916. In 1927, Bulkley Valley Coal Mines Syndicate extended the tunnel for 14 metres and the slope was cleaned out. Bulkley Valley Coal also completed a 4.6-metre drift on the “No.2” seam and a 21.3-metre tunnel within the “No.3” seam.

During the mid 1980s, Atna Resources tested the northern part of the basin with two diamond-drill holes and noted an intersection of 120 metres of coal-bearing strata, including five coal zones, with seams of 0.8, 0.9 and 1.0 metres. Samples were taken at this time:

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Sample    Seam        Moisture    Ash        Volatile    Fixed      Sulfur      Heat
No.       Thickness  (Per cent)  (Per cent)  Matter      Carbon    (Per cent)   Content 
          (Metres)                          (Per cent)  (Per cent)             (Btu/lb)
	 
PS-191	0.65	1.58	19.67	24.04	54.71	1.00	12025
CH-1	0.65	1.65	26.75	24.50	47.10	0.95	10884
CH-3	1.60	1.82	54.19	26.03	17.96	0.95	5512
CH-5	0.60	1.54	28.87	23.52	46.07	1.99	10582
“No.1” Seam	1.37	1.8	43.8	17.7	36.7	-	-
“No.3” Seam	0.91	1.4	35.7	19.5	43.4	-	-
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(Property File Placer Dome Atna Resources Ltd., 1986)