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Serving the South Country, Fernie, Sparwood, Elkford since 1898
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3,301 - 6,000 Circulation
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First Place ll
$1.10 ( inc lude s H S T)
SPCA APPEAL
Crafty kids Cats up for adoption - Page 3
PM’S VISIT
Stephen Harper honours local MP Page 4 FERNIE
Kids are enjoying summer creatively thanks to the summer activity program at Fernie Heritage Library. More photos on page 12 Photo by Mike Bull
Miner’s jurassic fossil find By Rebecca Edwards Free Press Staff
T Physio heads to Bhutan - Page 10
SPORT
After the TransRockies - Page 13 - 14
he largest moveable ammonite fossil ever found in Canada was unearthed by a miner at Coal Mountain six years ago – but it is so heavy, no museum has ever displayed it. Structural engineers said the 5,500 lb fossil could damage the floors at Courtenay Museum on Vancouver Island if it was displayed there. But now two lightweight exact replicas have been made so the fossil can be examined up close. The 150 million year old, 1.5 metre diameter, 5,500 lb fossil has been sitting out of sight in the loading area of the paleantology centre since it was donated by mine owners Teck in 2006. Hydraulic shovel operator Richard Budd noticed the unusual rock among his shovel load during a night shift in winter 2004, and set it aside for geologists. Speaking to The Free Press this week, Budd, of Hosmer, said he was pleased to hear the fossil could finally be displayed. He added: “I picked it up and
right away I knew it was different from the ridges on the rock. I moved it out to the side and a load operator came and picked it up. “When the geologists saw it in the morning, they were pretty excited about it.” Nic Milligan of Teck said this week that one of the replicas may be moved to the company headquarters in Vancouver, but another replica may be commissioned to go on display in Sparwood. The other replica will be displayed at the paleantology centre in Courtenay. Milligan added: “It is not uncommon to find fossils at the mines although nothing of this scale. “The beauty of it is that it completes the picture of where the coal came from and how it formed.” The ammonite is the second largest of its kind found in Canada. The largest is located near Coal Creek in Fernie and is so heavy and delicate it cannot be extracted from the mountain. The mold and replicas of the Coal Mountain fossil have been made by a company called Palcoprep based in Drumheller. The polyurethane
The 1.5 metre ammonite, which was discovered by Coal Mountain mine worker Richard Budd in 2004. Photo by Palcoprep
replicas have now been cast and are being painted. They weigh less than 150 lbs. Company president Frank Hadfield said the ammonite was a sea creature similar to a squid or octopus that would have had tentacles emerging from its coiled shell and an eating apparatus like a
parrot’s beak. Hadfield said ammonites became extinct at the same time as dinosaurs, but this ammonite dates from earlier in the Jurassic period. He added: “There haven’t been many fossils of that size found – most ammonites are the size of a dinner plate.”