Hat Creek Project L
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BRITISHCOLUMBIA HYDRO AND POWER AUTHORITY HAT CREEK PROJECT L British Columbia Hydroand Power Authority - Hat Creek Project - &tailed Environmental. Studies - Minerals and Petroleum Report - Kay 1978 (Revision A) II ENVIRONhdENTALIMPACT STATEMENT REFERENCE NU~MEER: 20 P HAT CREEK PROJECT OETAILEO ENVIRONMENTAL STUOIES MINERALS AN0 PETROLEUM CONTENTS & "Section Subject 1. 0 SUMMARYANUCONCLUSIONS 1-1 2. (I INTRODUCTION 2.1 Location 2-1 2.2 Land 2-1 2.3 History 2-2 2.4 Purpose 2-3 2.5 Scope 2-4 3. CI METHOOOLOGY 3-1 4. et GEOLOGY 4.1 Physiography and Surficial Oeposits 4-1 4.2 8edroc:k Geology 4-4 5. et RESOURCEEVALUATION 5.1 Introduction 5-1 5.2 Petroleum and Natural Gas 5-2 5.5 Saline Deposits 5-4 5.4 Aggregate Deposits 5-4 5.5 Limestone 5 - 13 5.6 Claystone Oeposits 5 - 18 5.7 Baked Claystone 5 - 31 5.8 Additional Coal Deposits and Coaly Waste 5 - 33 5.9 Base Metal Deposits 5 - 39 5.10 Precious Metal Oeposits 5 - 49 5.11 Rock and Mineral Collecting Localities 5 - 50 5.12 By-product Trace Elements 5 - 52 6.0 MATRIXIMPACT 6.1 Introduction 6-1 6.2 Matrix Description 6-1 6.3 Mitigation and Compensation 6-4 CONTENTS - (Cont' d) section Subjet3 7.0 REFERENCESCITED 7-1 -TABLES Table No. 4-1 Hat Creek Coal - Proxisata and SulphurAnalyses 4-7 5-1 A.SlM Tests for Aggregate 5-5 5-2 Sieve Analysis of HatCreek Aggregate 5-7 5-3a Tests for CoarseAggregate 5-9 5-3b Tests for FineAggregate 5-9 5-4 Analyses of Limestone fna Houth Meadows 5-15 5- Sa CanadianImports in 1975 byType of Clay 5 - 24 5-5b U.S. Demand in 1973 and Uemand Forecast for 2000 by Type of Clay 5 - 24 5-6 Analyses for Alumina in Clay Samples from the Upper Hat Creek Valley 5 - 28 5-7 Comparison of TraceElements between Hat Creek Coaland Average Coals from Five Coal Provinces of the United States 5 - 54 Fiqure No. 2- 1 Location Map 2- 2 CoalLicences - Upper HatCreek Valley 2-3 CoalLicences - Crown Reserves - HatCreek 4- 1 Surficial Geology 4-2 FluvialTerraces along the Thompson River with the Proposed Pumphouse Site in the Centre of the Photo, Leftof the Railway Bridge CONTENTS - (Cont’d) FIGURES - (Cont’d) II Figure No. 4-3, SlideArea on theThompson River Upstream from the Proposed Pumphouse Site 4-4. TheSite of theProposed No. 1 Openpit is in the 1) Foreground with the Clear Range and Marble Canyon in the Back:ground 4-51 HummockyGround Moraine in theForeground with f Outcrops of Volcanic Rocks in the Centre of the Photograph 4-68 Areaof the No. 1 Depositwith Pit Outline and Active Slide 4-7 Area of the No. 2 DepositShowing an Inactive Slide 4-8, RegionalBedrock Geology - Hat Creek 4-9 GeologicalMap - HatCreek Valley 4-1,O HatCreek - Section 77000 N 4-11 HatCreek - Section 79500 N 4-12 HatCreek - Section 19500 E 4-13 HatCreek - Section 48000 N 5-1 SchematicRepresentation of theMethodology of Resource Evaluation 5-2 Mineral and AggregateShowings - HatCreek a 5- 3 Alternative A - HouthMeadows Waste Oump 5-4 Alternative B - HouthMeadows Waste Dump 5-5 DistributionofClay Minerals by Zone 5-6 HistogramsIllustrating theDistribution of Quartz in each Zone 5-7 HistogramsIllustrating theDistribution of Kaolinite in each Zone CONTENTS - (Cont'd) - FIGURES - (Cont'd) Figure No. 5-8 HistogramsIllustrating the Distribution of Bentonite in each Zone 5-9 Histogram Illustratingthe Distribution of Feldspar in each Zone 5-10 Oiskibutfon of Alumina by Zone 5-11 Kaolfnite-BentoniteRatio Versus Parting Thickness 5-12 Magnetometer,Gravimeter - Reconnaissance - Hadicine Creek 5-U Geologyand Magnetic Survey of WestHouth Meadows 5-14 GeochemicalSurvey of West Houth Meadows(Copper) 5- E GeochemicalSurvey of WestHouth Meadows (Molybdenum) 5- 16 Geochemical Survey of West Houth Meadows (Lead) 5-17 GeochemicalSurvey of WestHouth Meadows (Zinc) 5- la GeochemicalSurvey of WestHouth Meadows (Gold, Silver, Tungsten, Tin) 6- 1 EnvironmentalImpact Matrix - Operation APPENDICES Appendix No. A Terms of Reference A-1 - iv - SECTION 1.0 - SUMMARY AN0CONCLUSIONS The coaldeposits of the Upper Hat Creek Valleylie in the InteriorPlateau of British Columbia, 21.7 km (13.!i mi) west of Ashcroft. It has been proposed that thesecoal deposit!; be thesource of fuel for a thermalplant in theTrachyte Hills 4.8 km (3 mi) east of the deposits. The purpose of this investigation is to provide baseline data forother environmental studies, to determine the regional geology and extent of thecoal resource, to provide an inventory of all rock, u mineral and petroleum resources that could be affected bythe Hat Creek Project and to note potenttal uses of theseresources where applicable. The landarea that would be alienated bythe project is estimated at 4310 ha (10,650 acres). The greatestimpact on geologicalresources would be inthe Upper Hat CreekVal ley and theTrach,yte Hi1Is, the .L locations of the proposed mine and powerplant. c The Upper HatCreek Valley is composed of agraben or down- dropped fault block., The Tertiarystrata in the centre of thevalley areflanked by older, primarily volcanic and plutonic rocks on thewest and by older limestone and volcanicrocks on theeast. The No. 1 coal c deposit is nearthe north end of thevalley. The area from the No. 1 depositsouthward for 22.5 km (14 mi) is believedto tie underlain by coal.Within the valley both the No. 1 and No. 2 deposits have been I drilledextensively. Additional exploration holes have been drilled throughout the Val 1e:y. TheNo. 1 deposit has been proposed as the sou:rce of coal for a 2000 Mw thermalgenerating station with aplanned life of years. L 35 At the end of 35 years appreciable reserves would still remain in the 1-1 No. 1 deposit and inthe remainder of the Upper HatCreek Valley. These resourcescould be used to extend the life of the proposed plant, enlargethe thennal generating capacity, or for the alternate uses that have been proposed. This reportinvestigates the effect of theHat Creek Project on resources of petroleum and natural gas, salts,aggregate, 1imestone, claystone,baked claystone, additional coal and by-productcoaly waste, basemetals, precious metals, semi-preciousrocks and minerals and by-producttrace elements. It was foundthat the only resources significantly affected would be: aggregate,limestone, claystone, baked claystone and by-productcoaly waste. Of theseresources aggre- gateand limestone are abundant inthe area; the former should be stored in the waste dump to ensure that sufficient reserves are readily available to meet future needs; resewes of the latter could be quarried nearby, in areasnot affected by theproject. The claystoneat Hat Cmk is being examined for theproperties of its montmorillonitic (bentonitic) and kaoliniticconstituents. These mineralsare occasion- ally separate, in discrate zones, therebymaking extraction possible. The kaoliniticmaterial could be used for making refractorymaterials, ceramicproducts or asa source of alumina; the bentonitic material may be useful in foundry sands, drilling mud or oiT processing.Potential by-productcoaly waste is being examined as asource of alumina and for themanufacture of grog,a component of bricks.Similarly, the baked claystonethat over1 ies part of thecoal deposit may be useful in grog or for roadconstruction. These additional uses of theresources could enhance the project. Thereare noknown mineral or petroleumresources that would be adverselyaffected by the project which could not becompensated by similarresources nearby. There is apossiblility that the excavation of claystone,burned claystone, and coalywaste may enhance the project. 1-2 SECTION 2.0 - INTRODUCTION 31 2.1 LOCATION The Upper HatCreek Valley is the site of theHat Creek coal deposits. The val'leylies midway between Ashcroft and Lillooet, 200 km (125 mi) northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia (Figure 2-1). The site is accessibleby car or by .smallcharter aircraft from nearby points or from Vancouver. All threemajor railways inBr-itish Columbia passnear the site. The nearestpoints are Ashcroft, 21.7 km (13.5 mi) to theeast, on the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways, and Pavilion, 19.3 km (12 ai) to the northwest, on the Eritish Columbia Railway. 2.2 The subsurface rightsto land necessary for the development of theHat Creek coal!field are currently held by British ColumbiaHydro and Power Authority undercoal licence andCrown grant. or have been withdrawn as Crown reserve. The Crown reserves were established under Orders-in-Council Nos. 1636, 1319 and 1666, B.C. Hydro currentlyholds 36 coallicences for a total of 8000 ha (19,760 acres) and oneCrown grantof 259 ha (640 acres) in the Upper Hat Creek Valley (Figure 2-2). The reserves for coal,mineral and placerdeposits, totallingapproximately 51 700 ha (127,800 acres),cover the trans- portation and water :Supply corridors and themargins of the Upper Hat Creek Valley(Figure 2-3). These reservescould be reducedappreciably when plans are final ired and access routes for water,roitds and trans- mission lines are confirmed. The landalienated by the proposedopenpit, a 305 m (1000 ft) buffer around the pit, two waste dumps, stockpiles of coal and topsoil, 2-1 LOCATION MAP HAT CREEK I L KILOMETERS 0 5 IO COAL LICENCES ---CDALLI~eoulvMRl CROWN RESERVES -0 5 "CmwNRCSeRVEBaJNoAm HAT CREEK ...:,dwg~& CROWN RESERVE - 0e*: .::. ji.. .;.. :,.: :... 2.2 -UNO - (Cont'd) a coalprocessing plant,reservoirs and diversioncanals, internal conveyor systems and a conveyor system tothe powerplant is estimated at 3380ha (8360 acres). 61945 The proposed powerplant :road, airplane landing strip, water line, pumphouse, coolingwater reservoir, fly ash dump andbottom ash dump could alienate 930ha (2290 acres).31 There- fore it is estimatedthat the land that could be alienated by the proposed HatCreek Tliermal Projectis 4310ha (10,650 acres).Several thousand hectares of this total would not be disturbed, but would lie within the boundaries of the operating part of the project.