Millions of tonnes of coarse tailings sand are produced every year as a byproduct of the bitumen extraction process in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region. These tailings materials contain residual quantities of mobile solutes, which can be transported through groundwater to downgradient terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The anticipated ubiquity of coarse tailings sand on the post-mined landscape necessitates the characterization of its hydraulic and transport properties. Hydraulic conductivity and dispersivity was evaluated at multiple scales, and included the first field-scale tracer test conducted in a tailings sand aquifer. Average hydraulic conductivity derived using laboratory cores, single-well response tests, and the tracer test were 3.2 m d⁻¹, 2.9 m d⁻¹, and 3.4 m d⁻¹, respectively. These measurements demonstrated close agreement and were consistent with expectations of a material that experiences some grain-size segregation and homogenization due to the oil sands process and the nature of deposition. The field-scale tracer test appeared to obtain the asymptotic dispersivity of the coarse tailings sand aquifer, reaching a maximum value of 0.5 m after 18 m of displacement. Coarse tailings in the oil sands that experience similar processes of segregation, settling, and deposition on the reclamation landscape could be expected to have similar hydraulic properties.

作为阿萨巴斯卡油砂区沥青提取过程的副产品，每年生产数百万吨粗尾砂。这些尾矿材料含有残留量的可移动溶质，可通过地下水输送到下坡的陆地和水生生态系统。预期粗尾矿砂在采后景观中普遍存在，因此需要对其水力和运输特性进行表征。在多个尺度上评估了水力传导性和分散性，包括在尾矿砂含水层中进行的第一次现场尺度示踪剂测试。使用实验室岩心、单井响应测试和示踪剂测试得出的平均水力传导率分别为 3.2 md ^-1、2.9 md ^-1和 3.4 md^-1，分别。这些测量显示出密切的一致性，并且与由于油砂过程和沉积性质而经历一些粒度偏析和均质化的材料的预期一致。现场规模示踪试验似乎获得了粗尾矿砂含水层的渐近分散性，在位移 18 m 后达到最大值 0.5 m。油砂中的粗尾矿在填海景观中经历了类似的分离、沉降和沉积过程，预计具有类似的水力特性。