NSERC/COSIA Industrial Research Chair in Oil Sand Tailings Geotechnique

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The oil sands are viewed as a vital component to the Canadian economy. At the same time, the environmental impacts of oil sands operations are also growing. Tailings impoundments are used almost exclusively for waste management, and the combined footprint for these impoundments is currently more than 220 km2. Processed oil sands ore yields a tailings slurry composed of water, sand, silt and clay (or "fines"), and a small amount of residual bitumen. The tailings are discharged into a settling basin, allowing the sand fraction to settle quickly on the beach with the balance of fine tailings settling in the pond. The Canadian Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA) and have partnered with UAlberta to significantly advance the rate at which tailings ponds can be reclaimed. The proposed research program consists of complementary themes that integrate multidisciplinary expertise from UAlberta and industry. The research proposes the development and application of new and innovative geotechniques to design dry stacked deposits for the oil sands industry while simultaneously investigating geotechnical and bio-geochemical aspects of current oil sands tailings management and reclamation strategies. The proposed research program focuses on: Theme 1: Engineered Mixtures of Tailings and Overburden for Dry Stacked Deposits Theme 2: Influence of Bio-geo-chemical Interactions on the Geotechnical Behaviour of Soft Tailings Theme 3: Capping Soft Tailings Deposits These complementary themes aim to conduct research that looks to the future of tailings deposits, while providing research for immediate/interim challenges. It is anticipated that 15 highly qualified personnel will be trained through the research program. Further, the collaboration between industry and academia will enable fundamental discoveries for the behaviour and improved management of fluid fine tailings, benefitting the engineering discipline, and bolster the University of Alberta and Canada's position as an international leader in mining reclamation and oil sands tailings geotechnique.