Circular published for Fitzsimmons' campaign
Guide to the Alberta Oil Sand Area
Where are the Oil Sands?
  • Karl Clark at work on his prototype separation plant, 1929, Source: Glenbow Archives, ND-3-4596a

    Karl Clark begins his long career investigating Alberta's oil sands.

    Karl Clark at work on his prototype separation plant, 1929
    Source: Glenbow Archives, ND-3-4596a

  • Robert Fitzsimmons at Bitumount, ca. 1920s, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3358

    Robert Cosmas Fitzsimmons visits the Athabasca River and purchases an oil lease.

    Robert Fitzsimmons at Bitumount, ca. 1920s
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3358

  • Oil sands separation plant at Dunvegan Yards, Edmonton, 1925, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3526

    Karl Clark and Sidney Blair build prototype hot water separation plants.

    Oil sands separation plant at Dunvegan Yards, Edmonton, 1925
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3526

  • Prospectus for the International Bitumen Company, n.d., Source:	Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR1971.0356.544a,b.ProspectusOf.IBC.1

    International Bitumen Company is incorporated.

    Prospectus for the International Bitumen Company, n.d.
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR1971.0356.544a,b.ProspectusOf.IBC.1

  • Oil sands separation plant on the Clearwater River, 1930, Source:	Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3536

    Clark's hot water separation plant moves to the Clearwater River, near Fort McMurray.

    Oil sands separation plant on the Clearwater River, 1930
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3536

  • Diagram of the process patented by Clark in 1929, Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 289058

    Clark is issued Patent 289058 for "Bituminuous [sic] Sand Processing".

    Diagram of the process patented by Clark in 1929
    Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 289058

  • Fitzsimmons' separation plant, Bitumount, ca. 1930, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3383

    Fitzsimmons builds his first separation plant at Bitumount.

    Fitzsimmons' separation plant, Bitumount, ca. 1930
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3383

  • New plant at Bitumount, n.d., Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3378

    Fitzsimmons builds a new plant designed to produce 200 barrels of oil per day, but it runs for only a short while.

    New plant at Bitumount, n.d.
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A3378

  • Diagram of Fitzsimmons' patented separation process, 1932, Source:	Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 326747

    Fitzsimmons is issued Patent 326747 for a “Process and Apparatus for Recovering Bitumen.”

    Diagram of Fitzsimmons' patented separation process, 1932
    Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 326747

  • The International Bitumen Company plant, Bitumount, ca. 1937, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PAA A3375

    Fitzsimmons builds a refinery at Bitumount.

    The International Bitumen Company plant, Bitumount, ca. 1937
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PAA A3375

  • Fitzsimmons (left) shows Champion the oil sands at Bitumount, n.d., Source: University of Alberta Archives, 83-160-113

    Montreal financier Lloyd R. Champion buys controlling interest in International Bitumen Company and changes name to Oil Sands Ltd.

    Fitzsimmons (left) shows Champion the oil sands at Bitumount, n.d.
    Source: University of Alberta Archives, 83-160-113

  • Ernest Manning in 1943, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A483

    Ernest Manning, Premier of Alberta, announces a loan of $250,000 to Oil Sands Ltd. to build a prototype oil sands separation plant at Bitumount.

    Ernest Manning in 1943
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, A483

  • Alberta Government Oil Sands Project, Bitumount, 1952, Source: University of Alberta Archives, 91-137-127

    Agreement with Oil Sands Ltd. is cancelled. The Bitumount project becomes known as the Alberta Government Oil Sands Project.

    Alberta Government Oil Sands Project, Bitumount, 1952
    Source: University of Alberta Archives, 91-137-127

  • Diagram of process patented by Clark in 1948, Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 448231

    Clark is issued Patent 448231 for “Extracting Oil from Bituminous Sand.”

    Diagram of process patented by Clark in 1948
    Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 448231

  • Karl Clark at the completed Bitumount plant, n.d., Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PA410.3

    Alberta Government Oil Sands Project plant at Bitumount is completed.

    Karl Clark at the completed Bitumount plant, n.d.
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PA410.3

  • Cover of Blair's Report on the Alberta Bituminous Sands, 1950, Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR1971.0345.box24.503

    Blair Report indicates that developing the oils sands could be profitable.

    Cover of Blair's Report on the Alberta Bituminous Sands, 1950
    Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PR1971.0345.box24.503

  • Poster on the University of Alberta Campus, 1951, Source: University of Alberta Archives, 91-137-122

    Over one hundred delegates attend the Athabasca Oil Sands Conference at the University of Alberta.

    Poster on the University of Alberta Campus, 1951
    Source: University of Alberta Archives, 91-137-122

  • Bitumount, ca. 1949-1950, Source: Glenbow Archives, pa-1599-451-2

    Government of Alberta puts the Bitumount plant and 5,784 acres up for sale, but does not receive any adequate bids. The plant remains non-operational.

    Bitumount, ca. 1949-1950
    Source: Glenbow Archives, pa-1599-451-2

  • Diagram of Fitzsimmons’ patented 1953 separation process, Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 493081

    Fitzsimmons is issued Patent 493081 for a “Process for Recovering Bitumen from Tar Sands”.

    Diagram of Fitzsimmons' patented 1953 separation process
    Source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office, Patent 493081

  • The Bitumount site became overgrown in the years following its abandonment. Source: Historic Resources Management, DSC_1720

    Bitumount plant is sold, but no significant development occurs and it is finally abandoned in 1958.

    The Bitumount site became overgrown in the years following its abandonment.
    Source: Historic Resources Management, DSC_1720

  • Sign at the Bitumount site, 1980s, Source: Historic Resources Management, DSC_5896

    Bitumount is designated a Provincial Historic Resource.

    Sign at the Bitumount site, 1980s
    Source: Historic Resources Management, DSC_5896

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International Bitumen Company

During most of the time that he was active at Bitumount, Robert Fitzsimmons was Alberta's only independent commercial oil sands developer who actually separated the oil sands and sold any products made from the resulting bitumen. He was an enthusiastic promoter and came up with a wide array of bitumen-based items to market. Among these were Ichthulene, a skin preparation, and Bitu-phalt, a roofing material. Fitzsimmons trademarked both these product names and had a graphic designer create unique identifiers for them.

In addition to these, Fitzsimmons proposed numerous other products, including paints, automobile engine coolants, lubricants, kerosene, gasoline, sealants and paving materials. Some of these were actually made and sold. To promote Bitumount and his various products, Fitzsimmons undertook extensive and vigorous sales trips. He had prospectuses, circulars and pamphlets printed, and published large ads in the newspapers of the cities he visited. Among his stops were Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Chicago and London, England.

Fitzsimmons took a small wooden case of samples with him on these trips, so that he could show prospective investors exactly what he could produce from the oil sands. He must have been fairly effective, because over the years, a substantial amount of money was spent on wages, operating costs and construction materials—not to mention travel expenses.

In 1937, however, it all started to unravel when Fitzsimmons decided to add a small refinery to the Bitumount plant. To do so, he hired a petroleum engineer to provide a design and oversee the construction. Try as he might, he could not raise sufficient funds to cover the frugal budget he had set for the expansion.

He was desperate for real results from the completed refinery that he could pass along to prospective investors. H.F. Everard, his engineer, could not get the plant up and running on his shoestring budget and left claiming he had not been paid in months.

Although Elmer Adkins, who later supervised the construction of the new plant at Bitumount, carried on the work started by Everard at the International Bitumen Plant in 1938, Fitzsimmons was in dire straights. Without convincing results, he could not sell any shares, and his project ground to a halt.

In this Section

Products

As soon as Fitzsimmons successfully extracted some bitumen from the oil sands at Bitumount, he started looking for ways to market it.

Sales

The International Bitumen Company Ltd. (IBC) was incorporated in 1927.

Coal Conventional Oil Turner Valley Gas Plant Natural Gas Oil Sands Bitumount Electricity & Alternative Energy