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Coal Stocks |
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Western Plains
 were constructed at Dunmore, on the main line of the CPR, because that was where coal was trans-shipped from the narrow gauge cars of coal from Lethbridge into standard gauge cars and then to customers. The construction of coal sheds was too expensive. A system quickly evolved whereby coal was mined when orders were received. At Lethbridge, where demand was subject to the whims of thousands of domestic coal users, it meant full-time work for miners for about five months, then two- or three-day work weeks or even lengthy lay-offs. In the early 1950s, experiments were conducted by Galt Mine No. 8 on methods of storing coal to try and level out the yearly demand curve. A system whereby lump coal was stored in windrows, then covered with slack, worked well and was used to a limited extent at Lethbridge, more successfully in the Drumheller coalfield.',6))
Coal is present in relatively horizontal seams in the
prairies of central and southern Alberta and southern
Saskatchewan. The seams, which may be several kilometres in both
length and width, are usually uniform in thickness throughout.
The readily accessible plains coal occurs near the surface,
overlain by shallow layers of glacial till, soil or rock.
Foothills and mountain regions
The mountainous regions, which straddle the Alberta-British
Columbia boundary, contain extensive coal reserves. The
geological settings in the foothills and mountain regions are
more diverse than those of the plains and seams up to 15 metres
thick have been found. However, unlike the plains, the mountain
and foothills seams are often more deeply buried, steeply
inclined, and faulted.
