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Geotechnical News • March 2014
www.geotechnicalnews.com
WASTE GEOTECHNICS
Tailings and Mine Waste ’13 Conference
Returns to the Canadian Rocky Mountains
Nicholas Beier, Vivian Giang and Ward Wilson
Between November 3 and 6, 2013,
over 385 mine waste managers,
engineers, regulators and researchers
gathered at the Banff Springs Hotel
in Banff, Alberta, for the 17th Inter-
national Conference on Tailings and
Mine Waste. The University of Alberta
Geotechnical Centre and Oil Sands
Tailings Research Facility (OSTRF)
hosted the conference, which provided
attendees an opportunity to discuss
the latest developments in tailings and
mine waste management.
The University of Alberta is one of
three hosting universities for this
conference, which began in 1978 at
Colorado State University. Participants
from Canada, the USA and abroad
presented new ideas and made profes-
sional contacts with others who have
mutual interests and goals. Exhibitors
were also present at the conference
to showcase their technologies and
services.
This year, two keynote presentations
were made by Dr. Angela Küpper
and Dr. Michel Aubertin. Dr. Küpper
presented a de-licensing framework
for oil sands tailings dams. The frame-
work is based on a performance and
risk-based approach and aims to take
oil sands tailings dams to a stage at
which they are considered solid mine
waste structures and not dams. Dr.
Aubertin spoke on “Mine Waste Man-
agement @ RIME” and presented the
work that had led to the establishment
of the Research Institute on Mines
and the Environment (RIME UQAT-
Polytechnique) in April 2013.
Special to this year’s conference was
an unprecedented industry presenta-
tion session by member companies
of Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation
Alliance Tailings Environment Priority
Area (COSIA Tailings EPA). As of
2011, over 850 million cubic meters
of mature fine tailings are being
stored in massive tailings ponds that
are viewed as a significant environ-
mental risk. This moderated panel
presentation provided the most recent
developments in oil sands tailings
and management and how industry is
responding to these major challenges.
With 18 sessions over three days,
the presentations covered an array
of topics related to the engineering
and management of tailings and mine
waste, including case histories; the
design, operation and disposal of mine
waste; geotechnical considerations;
mine waste/tailings modeling; liners,
covers and barriers for waste con-
trol; acid mine drainage; reclamation
and remediation of mine impacted
sites; oil sands issues; surface water
and groundwater management and
geochemistry; and policies, procedures
and public safety. The conference pro-
ceedings are composed of 64 technical
papers, and presentations are available
Conference participants at the banquet reception.
A retired RCMP officer greets conference attendees at the ice
breaker (Photo courtesy of Jen Stogowski Photography).