The oil sands industry is one of Canada's key industries, providing a stable energy supply across North America. However, the environmental footprint of Alberta's oil sands operations continues to be a challenge to the industry and the energy regulator. The University of Alberta, Canadian Oil Sands Innovation Alliance Tailings Environmental Priority Area (COSIA Tailings EPA) and Alberta Innovates - Clean Energy have joined forces to establish the NSERC/COSIA Industrial Research Chair in Oil Sands Tailings Geotechnique to address the challenges of managing oil sands tailings and remediating tailings pond sites.The topics presented will describe the key challenges currently faced by the oil sands industry. Several new processes and techniques that offer promise for application in the oil sands industry, as well as in other mine waste operations, will be discussed. Future directions and alignment of the research programs to meet the needs of the Tailings Management Framework for the Mineable Athabasca Oil Sands and the Alberta Energy Regulator's Directive 085 (AER, 2017a) for Fluid Tailings Management for Oil Sands Mining Projects are also examined.Through this research partnership, the collaborators aim to produce greater resource efficiency, productivity and sustainability in the oil sands industry and provide fundamental contributions to the stabilizing of tailings in a timely manner for reclamation. The ultimate goal of the research is to provide new technologies that can be readily implemented with the optimum cost/benefit success in terms of sustainable, restored landscapes in Canada.
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