Innovation Anthology #351:
When it demonstrates its new water cap tailings technology, Syncrude Canada Ltd will fill an old mine pit with tailings and then cap that with water.
It’s Samantha Tavenor’s job to turn that pit into a lake – a viable aquatic environment for plants, bugs and fish.
SAMANTHA TAVENOR: That 5 meter cap is the water depth that we need to make sure that the clays and the fines are not resuspended. Research on the small scale test ponds has also showed us that as plants grow and as the bugs grow and then die, they end up making a layer which we call a detrital layer on the bottom. And of course, that helps to make sure that if that resuspends, the organisms just use it up. It’s part of the natural lake system. In addition, some of the other research from other industries is that you can have a little pile of rocks, sort of an underwater berm. So basically that makes sure that your shallow water zone which we call it a litoral zone doesn’t get disturbed. It allows the plants and the bugs to establish without having too much wave energy to knock their houses down,
Samantha Tavenor says researchers will monitor the evolution of the lake and fish can be introduced once a base food chain is established.
Thanks today to Syncrude Canada Ltd
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
Guest
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Sponsor
Syncrude
Program Date: 2010-11-04