Characterizing the hydraulic and transport properties of a constructed coarse tailings sand aquifer

Highlights

• Large volumes of tailings sand must be reintegrated into the mine closure landscape.

• The industrial processing and deposition of coarse tailings minimizes heterogeneity.

• Multiple methods demonstrated an average hydraulic conductivity of 1.2 × 10⁻⁵ m/s.

• Moment analysis of natural gradient tracer test indicated a dispersivity of 0.49 m.

Abstract

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.