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Geotechnical News • March 2018
WASTE GEOTECHNICS
Long-term performance of tailings dams in Alberta
Neeltje Slingerland, Haley Schafer, and Tim Eaton
A brief history of mining in
Alberta
The mining industry in Alberta mainly
consists of coal and oil sands extrac-
tion. Both types of mining have long
histories in Alberta, and coal mining
was crucial to the province’s early
development. Large-scale surface min-
ing began in 1962, with much of this
coal used to supply power-generating
plants and a smaller amount used to
process steel. The first large-scale oil
sands surface mine was constructed in
1967. Over the next several decades,
Alberta’s coal and oil sands deposits
were quickly expanded. Currently,
eight oil sands mines are operating
in northern Alberta, with lifespans
ranging from 20 to 100 years at cur-
rent production rates. Coal mining for
power generation is currently being
phased out of the province to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, with many
coal mines scheduled to close by
2030.
Tailings and tailings dams in
Alberta
Tailings are the waste material left
over after the valuable resources—in
Alberta, coal and bitumen—have
been removed from the mined ore.
If released in the environment in an
uncontrolled fashion, tailings pose
risks to the environment and human
health.
Operators build tailings storage facili-
ties (TSFs) to house the tailings until
they can be stored in-pit and eventu-
ally reclaimed. Aboveground tailings
dams, which hold tailings ponds, are
the most common types of TSFs; these
facilities are among the first features
constructed at a mine and remain
Figure 1. A tailings pond at a coal mine in the Alberta Rockies. (Credit:
Alberta Energy Regulator).
Figure 2. The first oil sands tailings storage facility (“Pond 1”) in Alberta,
located north of Fort McMurray along the Athabasca River. Closure and
reclamation of this facility is ongoing. (Credit: Alberta Energy Regulator).
