With present technology, Tailings Ponds are a necessary by-product of Oilsands mining. Tailings ponds contain a finite volume and therefore a complex management strategy is required to ensure that they do not become full before the next pond is available. Over the past few years, public pressure to reduce the impact of tailings ponds has resulted in new directives being passed by the Energy and Resource Conservation Board (ERCB) regarding the design, operation, and reclamation of tailings ponds. We have been working with our clients to assist them with projects to address not only the short term needs of maintaining sufficient capacity in the pond, but also the longer term needs of installing the assets to properly manage the ponds through to reclamation.

To this end, we have recently completed a number of projects, including:

• Installation of three kilometers of 26” pipe to transport tailings products to a new pit
• Installation of booster stations on existing tailings lines
• Installation of by-pass piping around existing and new booster stations

Two of these jobs have been commissioned and are currently operating with the third in the steps of being commissioned. In all cases, the projects started up and performed as designed. As with all teams at Fransen, we have worked very closely with the clients to ensure that the solution that we deliver is the optimal solution considering all known factors and future plans.

The projects were all completed within the final approved budgets and schedules. The team responded very well to field changes and accelerated schedules. In some cases the construction was occurring in parallel with the engineering.

The success of these projects was a direct result of the efforts of the core team of 15-20 people and the support of over 40 other employees.

The completion of these projects is one step in helping our client to implement their Tailings Management Strategy.