The individuals who played a role in the exploration and growth of tar sands mining in northern Alberta

Tar sands, which are deposits of liquid bitumen composed of a blend of sand and water, and bitumen is a common source of energy. Tar sands, which can also be described as oil sands exist in high concentrations in Alberta, Canada where the country extracts them to provide energy supply that is used in the creation and transportation of products and services[1]. Though the reserves of tar sand oil are insignificant compared to the global demand for oil, the tar sands in Canada is the largest deposit in the world and contain approximately 1.7 trillion barrels of oil[2]. A critical problem of oil sands is that they are expensive to mine since the sand sticks to machines, stick together the moving parts, and eats away tires and conveyor belts. The production of tar sands require large volumes of water, which highly polluted in the process. One of the significant barriers that the country have faced in tar sand development is a low net energy yield leading to high cost of development and production.

One of the critical aspects of the tar sands mining in northern Alberta is the exploration and development of the oil sands. Although the Alberta oil sands have been developed commercially since the late 1960’s, there is documented history that the development of the oil sands dates back to 1715. The first report about the oil sands was written by James Knight in 1715, as he was the first European to provide a report concerning the oil sands deposits. The second critical aspect of the exploration is the first geological testing of the oil sands that was undertaken by Sir John Richardson[3]. This assessment included conducting acid tests and determining the principal component of the sands.

In 1882, the then director of Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada identified the oil sands as Lower Cretaceous in age. The first successful attempt to remove bitumen the oil sands was made when G. Christian Hoffman attempted this using hot water. Hoffman experimented this extraction with hot water treatment of the oil sands in his laboratory at Ottawa in 1883 and the experiment was successful in segregating the bitumen from the sand grains[4]. The exploration of the oil sands continued in 1903 when Count Alfred von Hammerstein shipped drilling equipment to the Fort McMurray area with the belief that it would be useful in the oil from the oil sands using the traditional drilling methods. Hammerstein undertook to drink a number of wells to look for oil and drilled eight wells in the in Fort McMurray area but did not succeed. Despite his efforts not yielding any results, his investigations did further the cause of development of the region.

In 1920, another explorer Thomas Draper experimented with heat as way of distilling bitumen from oil sands. This experiment was by lowering a heating apparatus to the lowest point of a well and became the first person to make such kind of an attempt to segregate the bitumen from the oil sands. In 1923, the University of Alberta power plant commenced processing of tar sand in that year processed 85 tons of tar sand. In 1927, the International Bitumen Company determined that the best way for processing bitumen was through surface mining. In 1936, the Abasand Oils Ltd. commenced the processing of oil sand into diesel and was processing approximately 250 tons of oil sands per day. By 2004, the exploration and processing of the oil sands had borne fruits and the oil sands production in Alberta reached one million barrels per day.

During the exploration and development of the oil sands, several explorers and developers engaged in diverse activities to explore the processing of the oil sands in Alberta and their actions are a critical part of the old days of the oil sands in Alberta, Canada. The activities undertaken by these activities are the reason why the country has been processing the oil sands, which has significantly contributed in meeting the national energy needs. There are several explorers who took part in exploration but this research will focus on the actions of Robert Bell, R. G. McConnell, Sidney Ells, G. Christian Hoffman, Max Ball and L. R. Champion, and the manner in which these actions facilitated the development of the tar sands mining.

Robert Bell

Born in 1841, Robert Bell was a Canadian geologist and professor, and was considered to be one of the Canada’s greatest exploring scientists. Bell also served as a geologist for the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC). One of the critical activities undertaken by Bell took place between 1882 and 1884 when as the director of GSC, he examined the geology of the Athabasca region with a deeper perspective and made the conclusion that oil sands rested on a vast reservoir of petroleum[5]. Bell studied the Athabasca Basin and described the oil sands as “asphatic sands” and “sandy pitch.” He analyzed samples collected from the Athabasca oil sands and initiated experiments to segregate the bitumen from the sand with the use of hot water. Based on his work, he proposed that it was feasible to segregate bitumen from the oil sands by utilizing a hot water extraction process[6]. He later provided a report to a Senate Committee on the existence of oil in the area.

Bell also proposed that the tarry substance saturating the sands had seeped out of large pools of oil trapped within the Devonian limestone that lay beneath the Athabasca area. This theory by Bell continued to lure geologists, engineers and entrepreneurs to the oil sands. In is theory, Bell concluded that the attitude and conditions of the strata was favorable for the accumulation of oil and that the productive wells in the area would be found by boring in to these rocks along the part of the Athabasca where they may be reached. Bell supported this theory then by his observations of multiple gas wells below the river, since the gas tends to lie atop oil pools. During this period, Bell also endorsed the commercial possibilities of the area although he identified that transportation from the area would a limiting factor since the area was very remote.

Bell was also at point in charge of GSC’s exploration of the oil sands in the south of Fort McMurray near Athabasca Landing, a role he shared with R. G. McConnell and Dr. George M. Dawson. The investigations in this area was based on the proposition that there was a large volume of pure petroleum of free oil below the oil sands, that were trapped by the shale formations that the geologists were aware existed in the region. During these explorations, a well was drilled at Athabasca Landing. The well was approximately 600 meters deep but no oil was found. After no oil was found in this area, the explorers moved the drilling equipment to Pelican Rapids where they drilled a well in 1896 but still no oil was found.

These activities by Bell contributed to the exploration and development of in that he provided the existence of petroleum in the Athabasca Basin by proving that the sticky stuff was petroleum in nature and worth undertaking further exploration. His activities and theories were a good foundation for further exploration and development for the explorers that came after him. For instance, G. Christian Hoffman tested the samples provided by Bell and proved Bell’s assertion that the sticky stuff was petroleum in nature. Hoffman further tried to segregate the bitumen from the sands using hot water, which helped in reinforcing Bell’s opinions and that he used to encourage the commercial application of the deposits.

Robert George McConnell

McConnell was a geologist with the Geological Survey and undertook several exploration activities. In 1887, commenced the exploration of the Mackenzie Basin and the results of his exploration was included in Part D. Annual Report, Vol. IV., 1888-89, Geological Survey of Canada[7]. Between 1888 and 1891, McConnell undertook a critical investigation of the area from Peace River to Athabasca River and in the basin of Athabasca. His investigation was focused on the tar reserves and the oil springs of Athabasca area, that some of the travelers who had gone deeper in the region gave astonishing tales. The results of this exploration was included in the 1890-91 report and at the time created much interest on the exploration of oil sands and his contribution is considered a vital authority on the topic.

McConnell worked with Bell and was next to investigate the sands and he argued with a little more confidence that there was evidence to that there was evidence of tar sands in the area. McConnell also presented a report to the Senate Committee in which he gave a geological description of the oil sands. In this report, he also proposed that the content of bitumen in the Athabasca oil sands were at least 4.2 million tons and argued that there might be more oil further below, and proposed an immediate program for drilling, a proposal that the Senate agreed to undertake[8]. In 1893, Senate passed a law authorizing the Geological and Natural Survey of Canada to scrutinize the petroleum deposits in the Athabasca oil sands and Parliament gave McConnell a grant of $7000 to engage a contractor and place a drilling rig in the Athabasca River. McConnell engaged a driller who placed a rig at the Athabasca. McConnel expected to find oil at between 1197 and 1493 feet but the driller did not find any, making him and the driller to abandon their first well in 1895 after facing a lot of difficulty in drilling. In 1897, McConnell drilled another another well downstream.

McConnell’s contribution to the exploration and use of oil sands in Alberta were inform of exploring the possibility of the existence of oil in the tar sands, ways of obtain bitumen from the oil sands, informing the Senate about the oil sands and drilling of wells in areas where he thought he would find below the oil sands. His contribution to the two annual reports also helped in informing the Senate and Parliament about the existence of oil in the area and his drilling of oils helped in identifying the areas that did not have oil even when they were expected to contain oil. These activities helped in providing critical knowledge to explorers who came after him in that they could determine the areas to undertake new exploration actions, and the kind of drilling to use to find the oil.

Sidney Ells

Sidney Ells was a cartographer, surveyor and engineers who spent more than three decades in researching and the exploring the tar sands for the Canadian Government Department of Mines. Some of the areas that Ells focused his studies on were the bituminous sands along the Athabasca River in 1913 and the area surrounding Fort McMurray, which he wrote in a preparatory report that was published in 1914[9].

In 1915, he continued his work and backpacked another seventy pounds of oil sands from McMurray to Edmonton in three weeks. He then laid a bituminous pavement in Edmonton city and in Jasper National Park as a way of illustrating the potential use of the tar sands. During the World War I, Ells was serving in the Royal Canadian Field Artillery as a lieutenant but continued to perform his personal experiments on the use of hot water to separate bitumen from the oil sands. He performed these experiments at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research in Philadelphia.

Ells who mostly worked from the Mines Branch in Ottawa, led a topographic survey party into the Athabasca area. At the end of the survey, Ells and his colleagues came from the area of survey with 30-ft scow that was loaded with nine tons of oil samples from the Athabasca. Due to Ells intense interest in the exploration of the tar sands, in 1914 he returned to the Fort McMurray area and use 23 teams of horses and sleds to bring 60 tons of tar sand over ice and snow. In 1915, Ells also undertook experimental tests to determine the manner in which to segregate the oil from the sands and made the conclusion that flotation cells were the most potential ways achieving a successful separation[10]. Though the approach has undergone some modification, it is the approach being used today for the commercial segregation of oil from the Athabasca tar sands.

The images of tar sands produced by Ells were different from those by other early explorers and surveyors. In undertaking his explorations, Ells concentrated his geologist’s expertise on depth and not on surfaces. In 1913, he scrutinized the area during which he measured the extent of the depth of the bitumen reserves and densities of the material that lies over the area. He indicated several high-grade reserves and his work produced adequate knowledge on the commercial challenges of transporting bitumen to the market, identifying the location with adequate reserves and cost projections per ton based on distances from the mining locations to the railheads[11]. Ells undertook influential exploration that several oil companies used his topographical maps in their work.

Ells played a critical role in the history of tar sands in northern Alberta, which has been documented in his memoir which includes images and describing of techniques used at the quarry, utilization of explosives, power shovels and shalers in the early mining processes and results of the trials he undertook in trying to segregate oil from the sands. Ells was so determined in his exploration of the tar sands mining that his colleagues described him as “one of the hardy pioneers.”

George Christian Hoffmann

Hoffmann was the first person in 1883 to make attempts of separating bitumen and oil sand by experimenting with hot water[12]. Hoffmann was working for Geological Survey of Canada. After making this attempt, he reported that bitumen readily separated from the sand. Hoffmann was an Australian who for several years worked as a chemist and metallurgist for those undertaking surveys related to tar sands mining[13]. Hoffman conducted most of his work on the several mineral samples collected by the geologists but mostly worked as the survey chemist of Bell. For instance, Hoffmann worked on samples provided by Robert Bell even before his major expedition. Hoffmann played a critical role in investigating the separation of bitumen from oil sands. For instance, he described the tests and noted that alcohol did not have the power dissolve bitumen from the sands. However, he observed that petroleum such as benzene and kerosene had the ability to dissolve bitumen. He also analyzed the small portions of the sandy pitch and proposed that is was to prove to be a worthy resource in the future. Hoffman made this proposition as he thought that sands created for asphalting uses and there is no need to segregate the sand and bitumen. For instance he identified that the sands were good for some actions such as roofing houses and making basements waterproof and constructing roads, walkways and courtyards. He proposed that separation of sand and bitumen could be done by simply boiling or what he termed as macerating the material with hot water.

The work undertaken by Hoffmann was described by the Bell, who elaborated that some of the samples of oil sands investigated by Hoffmann contained some content of bitumen. Bell also noted that Hoffmann had made attempts to segregate the bitumen from the sand in a more novel process that Hoffmann had reported. In his experiments, Hoffmann managed to extract 69.26 percent of the bitumen in the sands by boiling the oil sands in water. However, the bitumen composed of 50.1 percent of very fine sand, which meant that it needed more than simply boiling. Hoffman worked with only a few samples and concluded that working with larger quantities, the bitumen might be separated.

Max Ball

Max Waite Ball (1885-1954) was an American from Colorado who engaged himself in oil sands in 1929 and continued to play a vital part in the oil sands as an entrepreneur. Ball had invited Sidney Ells Denver to speak about the oil sands deposits on the Athabasca River, a talk that inspired him to travel to Ottawa where Ells introduced him to the Minister of Mines who was in charge of the oil sands leases[14]. Ells even proposed that Ball should apply for a lease on the Horse River Reserve.

Ball worked for the United States Geological Survey and then the United States Land Classification Board (USLCB). He also held senior positions in private sector oil companies. Ball learned about the Athabasca oil sands and decided to become involved in the oil sands and in 1930 applied for and acquired a Bituminous Sand Permit No. 1 from the Canadian government that permitted him to set up a mining extraction operation within the Federal Reserve on the Horse River that was in close proximity to Fort McMurray.

In 1936, Ball was able to obtain a 6-section lease on the Horse River on which he constructed an extraction plant and began its operations in the same year, and the plant had the capacity of handling at least 250 tons of oil sand daily. The Abasand Oil plant was constructed under the guidance of Ball, and was perceived to be an improvement of the previous undertaking by Fitzsimmons[15]. The oil sands extraction plant was erected by Abasand Oils Limited, a firm owned by by Max Ball and B. O. Jones. Together with James McClave, Ball established a second company that the also established an oil sands extraction plant still on Horse River south of the McMurray settlement, using the separation process of using hot water[16]. The Abasand Company invested significant amounts of money to undertake research and development and in 1941; the company was processing 19,000 tons of sand, the produced 17,000 tons of bitumen. The bitumen obtained was then reprocessed to provide oil, diesel fuel, coke and gasoline. The second company began its production in 1941 but was destroyed by fire. The federal government provided money for reconstruction which took place in 1942 and 1943 but the new plant also suffered the same fate of fire destruction in 1945.

The contribution of Max Ball in regard to the history of oil sands mining was in the form of establishing the extraction plants that were used in mining and producing oils. The Abasand Oils Limited used to produce 200 barrels of bitumen per day. The mining method that the company found most effecting in the mining of the oil was drilling holes in the oil sand where extractors insert and trigger blasting powder. The now loose sand was then loaded into trucks and transported to the separation plant. Though the company Ball established was later destroyed by fire, his work was instrumental in guiding the country on the best approaches to use in the mining of oil sands.

Lloyd Champion

Another person who played a critical role in the finding and use of the mining of oil sands is Loyd Champion (1904-1972), who was an entrepreneur and financier from Montreal. In 1941, Champion bought the company that was previously owned by Fitzsimmons, International Bitumen, and renamed it Oil Sands Limited. As the president of the new country, Champion continued with Fitzsimmons as an advisor in the firm, a position he served until 1944. He began trying to operate an oil sands separation plant and was at the beginning using the oil sands as road oil on the Alaska Highway but the company was struggling. For a period of two years, Champion’s efforts of raining capital were unsuccessful to enable him obtain government contracts to supply petroleum products.

Champion presented a request to the provincial government to engage in a partnership and the government accepted his proposal by forming a public-private venture to construct an separation plant at Bitumount at an experimental level[17]. The objective of this project was to deal with the technical problems that were faced by companies that made attempts to undertake extraction and to test the economic feasibility of large-scale oil extraction. The project between the provincial government and Champion started with high optimism levels but proceeded very slowly due to a variety of problems and cost over-runs, which made Champion unable to continue financing the process. In 1948, the new plant was entirely taken over by the company.

Champion played a critical role in the oil sands mining by being an experienced financier. He was described as an experienced financier due to the actions he took to acquire Bitumount Operation. Although the association of Champion with Bitumount was short than he would have expected, he played a critical role in identifying the perfect site to undertake the mining, the oil sands expertise and the investment of significant amounts of money. Champion also made a timely appearance into the oil sands scene as he was willing to investment in the mining of oil sands.

Champion played a critical role in the oil sands concept by investing in mining through promoting the Great Canadian Oils Ltd. With the backing of the Sun Oil Company Ltd, the company established the first industrial-scale oil sands extraction plant in 1967.  His actions played a critical contribution in promoting large scale mining of oil sands.

Conclusion

It is well known today that the oil sands of northeastern Alberta are a critical energy resource but this was not always the case. Since the oil sands were first brought to the attention of fur traders in the 1700, there were speculations that the oil sands would be useful and profitable. Entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers wondered about the nature, origin of the oil sands and how much of the oil sands existed. These people engaged in several years of intensive study and research to answer these questions. After the information about the oil sands came into the limelight, several individuals took interest in the oil sands and invested their time, efforts, expertise and money in the exploration and development of the mining of oil sands. These individuals undertook different activities that include identifying the areas that contained the oil sands, collecting samples of oil sands to test whether they contained bitumen, and undertaking laboratory tests to find out the content of bitumen in the oil sands. Others engaged in undertaking research on the different ways to segregate the bitumen from the oil sands, setting up extraction plants to drill oil from underground and setting up separation plants to separate the mixture. Each of these activities was instrumental in the development of the mining. For instance, the individuals who engaged in research to identify areas that contained oil sands provided critical knowledge to those who set up extraction and separation plants. The essay has discussed six of those individuals and the role they played in the exploration and development of oil sands mining.

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