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Geotechnical News • September 2014
27
WASTE GEOTECHNICS
ponds can be reclaimed. In 2013, Wil-
son was awarded the NSERC/COSIA
Industrial Research Chair (IRC) in
Oil Sands Tailings Geotechnique
with additional support from Alberta
Innovates – Energy and Environment
Solutions. The IRC program focuses
on four major areas of innovative
research in collaboration with industry
and government:
• investigating the unsaturated soil
mechanical properties of oil sands
tailings;
• investigating consolidation pro-
cesses for various forms of fluid
fine tailings, mature fine tailings
(MFT) and amended MFT;
• assessing and improving tailings
deposition; and
• understanding the long-term geo-
technical behaviour of fine tailings
through laboratory testing and
simulations.
The IRC program will provide
Alberta’s oil sands industry, its
regulators and consultants with novel
technologies to measure the effective-
ness of current tailings remediation
efforts, new and innovative processes
for reducing the amount of post-
production tailings, and simulation
models to assist industry with tailings
planning and management. Further,
the collaboration between industry
and academia will enable fundamen-
tal discoveries for the behaviour and
improved management of fluid fine
tailings, benefitting the engineer-
ing discipline, and bolster Canada’s
position as an international leader in
mining reclamation and oil sands tail-
ings geotechnique. These advances are
aligned with the Alberta Energy Regu-
lator’s requirements (Directive 074)
and commitment to improve tailings
management through the reduction of
land disturbance by tailings manage-
ment facilities and earlier restoration
of tailings deposits. The IRC program
will enable industry to responsibly
develop Alberta’s oil sands and reduce
the impact of its tailings, while train-
ing the next generation of experts for
the oil sands industry.
“The paramount goal of the IRC is
to train highly qualified personnel. A
primary function of research at uni-
versity is to provide opportunities for
students to discover and grow. We’re
helping students to grow and develop
as professional engineers and leaders
in oil sands tailings geotechnique,”
says Wilson.
The Alberta Energy Regulator predicts
that the oil sands industry will increase
production to 3.7 million barrels per
day within the next decade, with gross
revenues expected to grow to $100 bil-
lion per year, making Alberta a major
provider of energy for Canada and the
world. However, industry’s ability to
manage its vast amount of tailings will
be critical in ensuring the continuity of
its operations. Through Wilson’s com-
mitment to improving technologies
in mine waste management practice,
environmental protection and the
sustainable use of resources, this new
IRC program will help put the people
and technologies in place to man-
age tailings from the greatest show
unearthed.
Back row(l to r) Iman Entezari, Bereket Fisseha, Ward Wilson, Neeltje Slingerland, Nicholas Beier, Sally Petaske
Front row (l to r) Vivian Giang, Louis Kabwe, Janeen Ogloza (Photo courtesy of Hope Walls Photography).