Lois Boxill is a Senior Geotechnical Engineer with SRK Consulting.
She describes the concepts and testing involved in her Ph.D thesis studying how mature fine tailings behave after treatment with polymer flocculants. Flocculated MFT is a complex, multiphase, unnatural material. There are unexpected material properties when looked at intensely with new surface imaging technology.
Understanding the material properties of flocculated MFT is key to predicting the performance of tailings management.
Lois Boxill's presentation was part of the Oil Sands Tailings 2014 Conference held at Lake Louise, Alberta from Dec. 7-10, 2014 by the Oil Sands Tailings Research Facility of the University of Alberta.
