At the 2013 Tailings and Mine Waste Conference Al Hyndman, principal consultant, Magnus Consulting, provided a coherent and succinct explanation of why the challenges of tailings ponds at the Fort McMurray oils sands mines emerged with the discovery that fine clays in the processing wastewater were taking very long times to settle out. He covers the history of research and technology as the oils sands industry has coped with this unexpected waste product from oils sands processing. To understand tailings ponds, mature fine tailings and the challenges of getting fine clay to settle out of processed wastewater before oil sands mines close, Al Hyndman provides a good introduction to Tailings 101.
