Industrial and Metallic Mineral Resources of Alberta

This report describes the industrial and metallic mineral resources of Alberta. It has been prepared with a view to emphasizing those commodities:

1. which have some potential for export in an essentially unprocessed or bulk state; or

2. which might provide the basic raw materials for development of a major metallic or industrial minerals industry within the province.

There are few mineral resources in the first category: Alberta has no metallic minerals production, and the types of raw or semi-processed industrial minerals with export potential (other than sulphur) are limited. Mineral resources with a potential for development and processing in Alberta - for subsequent use by local industries of for export in processed form - comprise a more diverse array of materials. These include metallic mineral commodities such as sedimentary iron ore and trace minerals (titanium oxides, zirconium) in the Athabasca Oil Sands. However, the word 'potential' should be stressed, for a number of formidable technical and marketing problems must be overcome before these resources can be extracted and developed on a commercial basis. On the other hand, the abundance and widespread distribution of relatively cheap energy resources in Alberta, necessary for smelting or processing of metallic minerals, provides an incentive to find solutions to these problems, especially if markets for the relevant mineral products can be found.

A summary of specific mineral resources considered to have some potential for development within and possibly export from Alberta is depicted in an enclosed table.