Anthrasite Coal
Virtual Museum ID: 19-DV09
Specimen Summary
Anthracite is the purest and hardest form of coal with 86% to 98% fixed carbon. It is hard, brittle, and conchoidally fracturing, with a submetallic to metallic luster. It occurs when lower rank coals are subjected to intense heat and pressure and metamorphosed. This sample is anthracite coal from the Mount Klappan area in northwestern British Columbia, a high-rank, metamorphosed coal characterized by a bright black luster, high carbon content, and low volatile matter. Anthracite forms when bituminous coal is subjected to elevated temperatures and pressures during regional metamorphism (often associated with mountain building), driving off volatiles and increasing carbon concentration and hardness. The Mt Klappan region is known for extensive coal measures, including both bituminous and anthracite ranks, within Mesozoic sedimentary sequences.Specimen Data
The information listed below relates to the current holding location or collection that the sample is from, and whether the item is viewable at that location or is part of a private collection. Coordinates are given as guides, and we remind you that collecting specimens from these locations is not allowed. Caution is advised visiting such sites and Below BC assumes no responsibility for any injuries or trespassing charges that may occur as a result of the viewer entering these sites.
Collection Details
Original Collection:
Drifter Ventures Ltd. (DV)Sub Collection:
-Collection ID:
DV-09Virtual Museum ID:
19-DV09Accessibility:
Date Added to VM:
2019-08-15Location Information
Sample Origin:
Klapann Mountain, B.C.Specific Site:
-UTM Easting:
493220UTM Northing:
6342350Datum:
09 (NAD 83)Coordinate Accuracy:
Specimen Details
VM Category:
RockPrimary Features:
Anthrasite CoalPrimary Mineral Formula:
C240H90O4NSPrimary Category:
-Secondary Features:
Advanced Geological Information
The following section provides geological data relating to the specimen or the site it was collected from, when available. Information has been obtained from various sources including private and government datasets but may not be up to date. Any geological time periods or ages listed often relate to the primary geology of the area, and may not be the actual date of an event such as mineral formation.
Geological Formation:
Bowser Lake GroupGeological Period:
Late Jurassic to Early CretaceousStratigraphic Age:
163.5 - 100.5 Million Years AgoGeological Belt:
IntermontaneGeological Terrane:
Overlap AssemblageMinfile ID:
104H 039Site Details:
Showings in this area are hosted by rocks mapped by Evenchick and Thorkelson (Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 577) as the Groundhog-Gunanoot assemblage, the main coal-bearing unit of the Bowser Lake Group. The Groundhog-Gunanoot is a deltaic assemblage, consisting of sandstone, siltstone, and carbonaceous and calcareous sandstone, with minor conglomerate and coal. The beds in the Upper Klappan area are folded into synclines and anticlines with axial planes that strike about 135 degrees. Axial plane traces are locally bent, indicating at least two deformational episodes.
Gulf Canada acquired the Mount Klappan property in 1981. They explored the Upper Klappan area (referred to as Little Klappan in 1982, then combined with area to the south and renamed the Nass Area in 1983 and 1986) with aerial reconnaissance, ground mapping, and 18 trenches with a total length of 64.5 metres. Nine coal seams were identified with seam thicknesses varying from 0.86 to 3.96 metres (Coal Assessment Reports 111,710 and 722). Gulf used the term "Klappan sequence" for the main coal-bearing unit in the greater Mount Klappan area.
Dawson and Ryan (Geological Survey of Canada 2555) trenched and sampled in three locations in the Upper Klappan area in 1991. Coal seam thicknesses at those trenches ranged from 0.40 to 5.8 metres, and vitrinite reflectance values ranging from 3.4 to 4.83 per cent RMax (anthracite rank).
See Arctos (MINFILE 104H 021) for further discussion of the history of formation nomenclature of the Bowser Lake Group.
Additional Images