Mr. J. B. Tyrrell, in his evidence before the same committee, referred to these outcrops of tar sands. There is, he stated, an enormous amount of sandstone there impregnated with hard thick petroleum of tar. The probability is that when one gets back from the outcrop in some places this substance will be found as a liquid oil instead of a hard tar that is found there on the Athabaska. Mr. Tyrrell said he thought it quite a fair and reasonable supposition that one would find good fluid oil in the beds of the same geological age as the tar sand of Athabaska river. This tar sand is very strongly in evidence along the river, and an enormous amount of tar has actually gone to waste, as it were—floated out and hardened there. The tar sand area extends for quite a number of miles along the river. As you descend the river you get to those tar-bearing beds, and then they are in evidence right along for a number of miles down the river. Then you leave them altogether, and they do not occur again. Mr. Tyrrell considered it highly probable that the petroleum or liquid would be found in close proximity. Of course the sandstone or tar would not have a marketable value at the present rates of transportation, but, outside of that, probably it would be used as paving material if it is ever needed in that vicinity. He thought it
Could Be Used for Making Pavement.
R. W. Ells, LL.D., F.R.S.C., in the Geological Survey report on “The Bitumen or Oil Shales of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, also on the Oil Shale Industry of Scotland,” says:—“The celebrated tar-sands of Athabaska river in Northern Alberta may at some time furnish material for distillation, since all attempts to find oil by boring have hitherto been unsuccessful. These tar-sands have been well described by Doctor Bell, and other officers of the Geological Survey who have visited the area. Doctor Bell, after describing the immense amount of tarry matter found along the river, states that ‘the pitchy sand itself may be useful for a variety of purposes. When chopped out of the bank in lumps like coal it was found to burn freely, with a strong smoky flame, if supported in such a way as to admit of the free access of air. As the bitumen became exhausted the fine sand fell to the bottom.’ . . . . A very superior lubricating oil may be manufactured from it. Doctor Hoffmann of the Geological Survey, Mr. Isaac Waterman, the well known petroleum refiner of London, Ontario, and Lieutenant Cochrane, Instructor in Practical Chemistry at the Military College, Kingston, have found it to contain twelve to fifteen per cent. of bitumen. Although this proportion may appear small, yet the material occurs in such enormous quantities that a profitable means of extracting the oil and paraffin which it contains may be found. The high banks of the river and its branches offer an easy means of excavating it, and as it burns readily one part might be consumed to extract the oil from another, there being practically no limit to the quantity which may be obtained for the digging.”
Oil Well at McKay, Athabaska river.
Doctor Bell, in a paper before the American Institute of Mining Engineers, Toronto, July, 1907, said:—“Different experiments made with the tar-sands show that while they yield some good illuminating fluid, their principal value consists in the large proportion of
Fine Lubricating Oil
which they afford. This oil was found to remain liquid in the cold winter temperatures of the Canadian prairie provinces, and therefore, it is very suitable for car wheels and machinery working in the open air.”
Mr. Crean in the report of his explorations in 1909 states:—“The outcrop of tar-sand commences about thirty miles south of McMurray on Athabaska river. It continues to about forty miles below McMurray on the river. It extends to the east and west for at least thirty miles, and varies in thickness from twenty to two hundred and twenty-five feet, with probably an average of one hundred and fifty feet thickness. . . . . The value of this immense deposit on the Athabaska is not known. . . . . During the past season representatives of interests in England and France have made examinations of it on the ground. Should it be found to be capable of being converted to any commercial use, the enormous extent of it would ensure that industries of considerable public importance would be established in connection with it as soon as railway communication is provided. Since Mr. McConnell’s report was published, several other outcrops of the mineral have been reported. A. W. Ponton, D.L.S., reports an outcrop near the fifth meridian, which is about ninety miles west of McMurray. I reported an outcrop of tar-sand in my report of last season on Buffalo lake which is one hundred and twenty miles southeast and in the province of Saskatchewan. That these outcrops are part of the same field is probable.”
Indications of Petroleum.