The Elkview mine is located within the Crowsnest Coalfield in the Elk Valley. The coal measures are situated within the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Kootenay Group sediments.
From earliest to latest, the Kootenay Group includes:
• Morrissey Formation: sandstones; subdivided into the Weary Ridge and Moose Mountain Members; 20–80 m in thickness;
• Mist Mountain Formation: interbedded sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, shale and thin to thick seams of bituminous to semi-anthracite coal; 450–550 m in thickness;
• Elk Formation: interbedded sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, shale and locally thick beds of chert-pebble conglomerate and thin seams of high volatile bituminous coal; 350–450 m in thickness.
The geology within the Elkview Project area dips towards the west at approximately 20º and plunges gradually to the south at about 4–8º.
The Mist Mountain Formation contains approximately 25 coal seams of potential economic interest, consisting of medium to high volatile bituminous coal.
Within the coal measures, there are three structurally separated coalfields, the Elk Valley, Crowsnest, and Flathead coalfields. Elkview is situated on the northern end of the Crowsnest coalfield. The Crowsnest coalfield is bounded by the west-dipping Erickson normal fault on the east and the Bourgeau thrust fault on the west.
The major structure in the Project area is a southwest plunging syncline, the Sparwood (Michel) Syncl ........