Tailings produced in Extraction and Froth Treatment normally contain about 50% water. Tailings ponds are normally located in a part of the lease that has little or no bitumen. These ponds are massive earth structures, initially constructed from overburden hauled from the mine site. Tailings ponds (or tailings storage facilities) play a critical role in storing solids from mined oil sands and managing water flows. These tailings ponds need to be massive structures, since they must provide sufficient residence time for water recovery and adequate holding capacity for all the solids contained in the mined ore. This tailings stream is diverted to a storage facility where the solids settle over time, allowing the water to be reclaimed. As the ore is processed through the Bitumen Production facility, large volumes of process water are added to produce a slurry that can be gravity separated, recovering the bitumen and leaving behind coarse sand, fines and process water.
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