About minerals

Introduction

The Western Canada Sedimentary Basin underlying most of Alberta contains vast mineral wealth. The geological strata not only contain oil sands, oil, natural gas and coal deposits, but also a large variety of metallic and industrial minerals.

In addition, the Canadian Shield in the northeast corner of the province consists of igneous and metamorphic rocks of Precambrian age. These are similar to those in other regions of Canada where important deposits of metallic minerals have been found.

Metallic and industrial minerals in Alberta fall under two main categories;

Brine-hosted metallic and industrial minerals are metallic and industrial minerals that are solid substances or elements extracted or recovered from soluble components naturally dissolved in groundwater.
Rock-hosted metallic and industrial minerals are metallic and industrial minerals other than brine-hosted metallic and industrial minerals.

Development of metallic and industrial mineral resources in Alberta has long been overshadowed by a focus on oil, natural gas, oil sands and coal. Although the province has more than 40 known kinds of metallic and industrial minerals, only a few are currently being produced. Potential exists for new discoveries and the production of many other types of minerals, including:

gold
silver
base metals
diamonds
lithium
uranium
potash
rare earth elements
vanadium

The Government of Alberta has attempted to remedy this deficiency and broaden the province's economic base in several ways:

by working to develop a modern Minerals Strategy, Alberta will be well-positioned to capitalize on its resource potential, and encourage investment and innovation
by providing tenure and royalty regulations that encourage mining development
by providing extensive support services such as geological mapping and geophysical research
by producing geoscience data, maps, reports and assessments through the Canada-Alberta Partnership on Minerals

Mineral facts

The following facts are not listed in order

Commodities mined in Alberta include: oil sands; coal; limestone; salt; shale; dimension stone; ammonite shell; sandstone; sand and gravel.

The Banff Springs Hotel exterior is Rundle stone, a brown sandstone, still quarried near Canmore for use in construction and landscaping.

Paskapoo sandstone from the Glenbow quarry near Calgary was used in construction on the top four stories of the Alberta Legislature Building, which began in 1907 and finished in 1912.

November 2008, 51 kimberlite bodies (the volcanic rock type most likely to contain economic deposits of diamonds) were discovered in Alberta. Of these areas, the Buffalo Head Hills area in north-central Alberta has the highest diamond content results to date. 28 of the 41 Buffalo Head Hills bodies contain diamond. At least three of these kimberlites (kimberlites K14, K91 and K252) contain estimated diamond grades of > 12 carats per hundred tonnes (cpht). The Buffalo Head Hills kimberlite K252 has the highest estimated diamond grades in Alberta with a preliminary mini-bulk (22.8 t) sample grade of 55 cpht. The biggest diamond found to date in the Ashton K14 complex, at Buffalo Hills, north of Edmonton is 1.3 carats. The diamond is a single crystal, of silvery grey appearance with many dark inclusions making it an industrial grade diamond.

In 1958, the first diamond in Alberta was reportedly found in fluvial gravels near Evansburg, east of Edson. Solution mining of salt occurs in Alberta. Water is injected into salt formations to recover the brine. Brine is water saturated or nearly saturated with salt (usually NaCl – sodium chloride – table salt -- but could be other salts). “Saturated” in this context means water containing as much dissolved salt as it can hold. At 15.5 °C (288.65 K, 60 °F) saturated brine is 26.4% salt (sodium chloride) by weight). At 0 °C (273.15 K, 32 °F) brine can only hold 26.3% salt.

Ammolite was named the official gemstone of Alberta in 2022, it is unique to Alberta. It is the fossilized and mineralized remains of ammonite, a group of marine molluscs that became extinct approximately 65 million years ago. Ammonites are members of the cephalopod class, which includes nautilus, squid, octopus and cuttlefish. Ammonite shells first generated interest among Alberta mineral collectors in the 1970s when the iridescent red and green coloured stones became popular.

Alberta is the cement manufacturing hub for the Prairie provinces. There are two major plants, one near Exshaw (west of Calgary) and the other in Edmonton.

In Alberta, salt is recovered by solution mining. Water is pumped down wells to dissolve the salt and the resulting salt brine is pumped to the surface.

Alberta has hundreds of sand and gravel pits of various sizes. Some sand and gravel is washed for placer minerals, such as gold and platinum, before being used for construction, fill and cement manufacturing.

Placer mining

A placer minerals licence is required to produce provincially owned gold and other placer minerals from Crown land using a sluice box, learn more with the placer mining tool kit. A secondary minerals lease is required to produce provincially owned gold and other placer minerals from sand and gravel operations. Placer mining is legislated under the Metallic and Industrial Minerals Regulation and the Metallic and Industrial Minerals Royalty Regulation. It is regulated by the Alberta Energy Regulator, depending on the type of mineral, mining activities and reclamation are subject to approval through Environment and Protected Areas. Environmental management is an important part of developing, running and closing down a mine. Mining companies develop and carry out plans to minimize impacts on air, land, water and wildlife. Companies use a variety of techniques to reclaim mined lands.

Exploration

Prospecting and geophysical surveys

Prospecting for Crown minerals using hand tools is permitted throughout Alberta without a licence, permit or regulatory approval, as long as there is no surface disturbance. Prospecting on privately owned land or land under lease is permitted without any departmental approval. However, the prospector must obtain consent from the landowner or leaseholder before starting to prospect.

Unoccupied public lands may be explored without restriction. But as a safety precaution, prospectors working in remote areas should inform the local forestry office of their location.

Exploration approval is not needed for aerial surveys or ground geophysical and geochemical surveys, providing they do not disturb the land or vegetation cover.

Exploration regulations

The prospector or company must obtain the appropriate approvals and permits if:

mechanized exploration equipment will be used
the land surface will be disturbed

Samples up to 20 kg in size may be taken for assay and testing purposes, but larger samples must be authorized the Department of Energy and Minerals. The licensee does not need to hold the mineral rights for an area to apply for an exploration approval.

These approvals and permits are required under the Metallic and Industrial Minerals Exploration Regulation. Exploration approvals and permits are issued by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER).

For more information email the AER at [email protected]

Mineral agreement types

There are multiple types of metallic and industrial minerals and ammonite shell agreements;

Rock-hosted minerals permits – the right to explore for rock-hosted metallic and industrial minerals
Rock-hosted minerals leases – the right to produce rock-hosted metallic and industrial minerals
Subsurface reservoir leases – the right to remove salt from a subsurface reservoir zone to create a subsurface cavern and use the subsurface cavern for storage of a specified substance
Placer minerals licence – the right to conduct placer mining using a sluice box on Crown Land. Panning does not require a licence.
Ammonite shell agreements – the right to produce ammolite/ammonite shell
Brine-hosted minerals leases – the right to produce brine-hosted metallic and industrial minerals

Permit and leasing overview has detailed information about the types of metallic and industrial minerals and ammonite shell agreements available.

Interactive map

The interactive map is normally updated every day at around 4:00 am Mountain Standard Time (MST). It is recommended as a more accurate and comprehensive source map when selecting lands for the purpose of applying for metallic and industrial mineral rights.

The interactive map allows the user to:

customize their view of the map
obtain text reports on agreements and restrictions
print results

Geoscience services

The Alberta Geological Survey (AGS), a branch within the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), conducts research on current geoscience topics and provides free geoscience data and information, including;

Earthquakes and Induced Seismicity

AGS interactive maps and apps include;

For more information contact the AGS.

Contact

Connect with the Coal and Mineral Development Unit:

Hours: 8:15 am to noon and 1 pm to 4 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-427-7707
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Email: [email protected]

Edmonton

Address:
Alberta Energy and Minerals
Coal and Mineral Development Unit
North Petroleum Plaza
9945 108 Street*
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2G6

*Couriers report to the 2nd floor.

Calgary (drop-off location only)

Address:
Alberta Energy and Minerals
300, 801 6 Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2P 3W2

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