Bitumount
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Bitumount is an abandoned industrial site on the east bank of the
Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') in Alberta, Canada, originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is protected in nationa ...
about north of
Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significa ...
in northeastern
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
, Canada. Between 1925 and the 1950s, it was the site of early attempts to extract
bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...
from the
Athabasca oil sands The Athabasca oil sands, also known as the Athabasca tar sands, are large deposits of oil sands rich in bitumen, a heavy and viscous form of petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, Canada. These reserves are one of the largest sources of unconventi ...
that contributed to the development of commercially viable extraction processes. The site closed permanently in 1958. Some of the structures at Bitumont were declared Provincial Historic Resources in 1974. As of 2017, the buildings are deteriorating.


History

Work at the site commenced after Robert Cosmas Fitzsimmons incorporated the International Bitumen Company Limited in 1925. Fitzsimmons named the site Bitumount, and by 1930 he had constructed a small oil extraction plant there.Alberta Online Encyclopedia: R.C. Fitzsimmons
/ref> It was situated on the edge of the
Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') in Alberta, Canada, originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park and flows more than before emptying into Lake Athabasca. Much of the land along its banks is protected in nationa ...
, which was the major transportation corridor in the region at that time. The raw oil sand was crushed and heated in hot water, and the oily substance that rose to the surface was skimmed off. The company made its first sale of bitumen in
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
in 1930, and the ''
Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...
'' announced that "those shipments of absolutely pure bitumen are the first and second and only shipments in the history of McMurray tar sands to be made for commercial purposes and it certainly (augurs) well for the future development of the much talked of tar sands of northern Alberta." Fitzsimmons constructed a small
upgrader An upgrader is a facility that upgrades bitumen (extra heavy oil) into synthetic crude oil. Upgrader plants are typically located close to oil sands production, for example, the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta, Canada or the Orinoco tar sands i ...
and other facilities at Bitumount in 1937-1938, but oil prices remained low during the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and International Bitumen became insolvent. In 1943, the company was sold to Oil Sands Limited, which was owned by Lloyd Champion. Champion entered into an agreement with the Alberta provincial government to develop a new, larger-scale separation plant. The new plant was built, but Champion failed to provide his share of the funding. The province became the sole investor and, under the direction of Dr. Karl A. Clark, successful tests of Clark's hot-water process, which was much more efficient that the process used by Fitzsimmons, were completed in 1948/49. After that, the plant operated only intermittently, and it closed permanently in 1958. Interest in the Athabasca oil sands had declined, primarily due to the discovery of conventional
petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...
at Leduc in 1947. In 1974, the 1930s plant and the larger 1940s plant at Bitumount were declared Provincial Historic Resources.


Today

As of 2017, the structures at Bitumount have deteriorated. The 1930s plant has collapsed, although much of the equipment is still in place. The 1940s plant was more substantially built and its steel frame and concrete foundations are still in good condition. Many of the wood buildings, including Fitzgerald's original cabin, are in serious disrepair.


See also

*
History of the petroleum industry in Canada (oil sands and heavy oil) Canada's oil sands and heavy oil resources are among the world's largest petroleum deposits. They include the oil sands of northern Alberta, and the heavy oil reservoirs that surround the small city of Lloydminster, which sits on the border bet ...


References


Further reading

*J. Joseph Fitzgerald, ''Black Gold with Grit'', Gray's Publishing (1978) *Peter McKenzie-Brown, Gordon Jaremko, David Finch, ''The Great Oil Age'', Brush Education (1993) *Robert Bott, ''Our Petroleum Challenge: Sustainability into the 21st Century'', Canadian Centre for Energy Information (report, 2004)


External links


Rampant Optimism, Tremendous DriveCanada's Historic Places: Bitumont
{{Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin History of Alberta Athabasca oil sands Petroleum industry in Alberta Bituminous sands of Canada Economic history of Canada Buildings and structures in Alberta Oil companies of Canada