Oil sand mine operators have encountered many challenges in storing and treating fine tailings since commercial mining started in 1967. A remarkably broad research and development effort has addressed these challenges, finding solutions such as enhanced capture of fines in beaches, non-segregating tailings and thickened tailings - all intended to improve fines capture and reduce fluid fine tailings inventories. Recently developed treatment methods, such as in-line thickening of tailings combined with thin-lift dewatering or with centrifuging, or freeze-thaw consolidation of tailings, are in advanced stages of pilot testing. Industry efforts to find effective and economically responsible solutions to the fine tailings challenge have been focused by the release of the ERCB Tailings Directive 074 in 2009. This paper reviews the history of oil sands tailings research, presents recent developments, discusses the value and weaknesses of Directive 074, and comments on where treatment of fine tailings is likely headed.
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