Bitumount is an abandoned industrial site on the east bank of the

Athabasca River The Athabasca River (French: ''Rivière Athabasca'') is a river in Alberta, Canada, which 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 ...

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 significan ...

in northeastern

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

, Canada. Between 1925 and the 1950s, it was the site of early attempts to extract

bitumen Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

from the Athabasca oil sands 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

, 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 Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

in 1930, and the ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. 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. Cunningham — as ...

'' 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 in ...

and other facilities at Bitumount in 1937-1938, but oil prices remained low during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

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 mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

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.

References

External links

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

History

Today

See also

References

Further reading

External links