Current water‐based oil sands extraction operations are unsustainable, due to their consumption of large quantities of water and energy, generation of large volumes of fluid fine tailings, and rapid expansion of tailing ponds. From a brief analysis of the historical evolution of water‐based oil sands extraction, it has been identified that the use of conventional dispersed air flotation to recover liberated bitumen from oil sand slurries is mainly responsible for the high consumption of water required and the fluid fine tailings generated. Based on mineral flotation principles, a new concept is proposed, whereby water‐based oil sands extraction is simplified as a process of transferring hydrophobic bitumen from hydrophilic surfaces (sands) to hydrophobic surfaces (bitumen carriers). Compared to existing bitumen extraction technologies, bitumen liberation from sands is accelerated by attrition/scrubbing, and the liberated bitumen is recovered from the oil sand slurry by hydrophobic coagulation and heavy media separation. This concept is verified from preliminary laboratory tests for processing (above) average grade oil sands. The water required is significantly reduced from 100 to 150 wt% of the ores processed (as seen in current commercial operations) to 30‐40 wt% of the ores. Virtually no fluid fine tailings are generated, with the potential of eliminating tailing ponds. The tailings produced after bitumen extraction are paste‐like, containing >60 wt% solids, which can be directly disposed of in the mining pit, with little or no further treatment. Future research is needed to justify and refine the concept in large‐scale tests and engineer it into commercial operations.

中文翻译：

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矿物浮选技术在改善从阿萨巴斯卡油砂中提取沥青的作用III。下一代水基油砂提取

当前的水基油砂开采操作不可持续，原因是它们消耗大量的水和能源，产生大量的细尾矿流体，并且尾矿池迅速膨胀。从对水基油砂提取历史演变的简要分析中，可以发现，使用常规分散气浮法从油砂浆中回收释放的沥青的主要原因是所需水的大量消​​耗和流体细化。产生的尾矿。根据矿物浮选原理，提出了一个新概念，其中简化了水基油砂的提取过程，将疏水性沥青从亲水性表面（砂）转移到疏水性表面（沥青载体）。与现有的沥青提取技术相比，通过磨损/擦洗可加速从砂中释放沥青，并通过疏水性凝结和重质介质分离从油砂浆中回收释放的沥青。此概念已从用于（高于）平均等级油砂的初步实验室测试中得到验证。所需水量从加工矿石的100％至150 wt％（如当前的商业运营中所见）显着减少到矿石的30-40 wt％。几乎没有流体细尾矿产生，有消除尾矿池的潜力。沥青提取后产生的尾矿为糊状，固体含量> 60 wt％，可直接处置在矿坑中，几乎不需要或无需进一步处理。需要进行进一步的研究来证明和完善大规模测试中的概念并将其工程化为商业运营。