Artificial lake to replace Syncrude Oilsands Mine

In 2012, Syncrude will finish a pit where it has been  mining oil sands over the last two decades. In its place, the company will build a huge experimental lake it is calling Base Mine Lake.
As Syncrude’s technology development officer Jim Lorentz explains, dried tailings left over from oil sands production will form the lake [...]

Spin Dried Tailings

Tailings in oils sands parlance refers to the material leftover at the tail end of production… after the oil has been separated from the sand.
At Syncrude, this collection of sand, clay and water is pumped down a pipeline into artificial ponds. Over time, the particles of sand and clay settle to the botton of these [...]