Mining and ore processing activities are associated with changes in the surrounding environment and may pose a risk to human health, if adequate safety measures are not taken. The uranium ore generally varies worldwide between 0.03 – 3% U3O8, except for a few deposits where higher levels of uranium is reported. More than 95% of the ore is converted into waste material called “tailings”. Around ...

In similar experiments conducted in 1996 and 2009, yellow perch (Perca flavescens) were stocked into two experimental systems: a demonstration lake where oil sands fine tailings were capped with natural water and a lake in a watershed containing bitumen-bearing sodic clays. In both experiments, yellow perch were captured in May from a nearby reservoir and released into the experimental ponds. P...

Draft genome sequences of two Campylobacterales (Sulfurospirillum sp. strain SCADC and Sulfuricurvum sp. strain MLSB [Mildred Lake Settling Basin]) were obtained by taxonomic binning of metagenomes originating from an oil sands tailings pond. Both genomes contain soxABXYZ genes involved in sulfur oxidation, highlighting their potential roles in sulfur cycling in oil sands tailings ponds.

Tailings produced during bitumen extraction from surface-mined oil sands ores (tar sands) comprise an aqueous suspension of clay particles that remain dispersed for decades in tailings ponds. Slow consolidation of the clays hinders water recovery for reuse and retards volume reduction, thereby increasing the environmental footprint of tailings ponds. We investigated mechanisms of tailings conso...

Oil sand tailings pond water contains naphthenic acids and process chemicals (e.g., alkyl sulphates, quaternary ammonium compounds, and alkylphenol ethoxylates). These chemicals are toxic and can seep through the foundation of the tailings pond to the subsurface, potentially affecting the quality of groundwater. As a result, it is important to measure the thermodynamic and transport parameters ...

Rainbow trout were exposed in situ to oil sands-affected waters for 21 d, either with or without an immune stimulation using inactivated Aeromonas salmonicida. Three aquatic systems were utilized for the experiment: a pond containing oil sands tailings capped with approximately 3 m of natural surface water, a second pond where unextracted oil sands materials were deposited in the watershed, and...

The oil sands mining and extraction processes in Canada produce large volumes of tailings that are a mixture of mainly water, clay, sand, chemicals and bitumen. This residue is deposited into tailings ponds where sand settles faster than fine clays which require many years to fully consolidate. Therefore, land reclamation and water recirculation become significant environmental impacts. The tai...

Ecological restoration of mine tailings have impact on soil physiochemical properties and microbial communities. The surface soil has been a primary concern in the past decades, however it remains poorly understood about the adaptive response of microbial communities along the profile during ecological restoration of the tailings. In this study, microbial communities along a 60-cm profile were ...

Over the past half century, a surprising number of major pollution incidents occurred due to tailings dam failures. Most previous studies of such incidents comprised forensic analyses of environmental impacts after a tailings dam failure, with few considering the combined pollution risk before incidents occur at a watershed-scale. We therefore propose Watershed-scale Tailings-pond Pollution Ris...

This paper presents the methodology developed by the association of Mineração Rio do Norte S.A. with Embrapa/Agrobiologia and the Soil Department of Federal University of Viçosa to promote revegetation of tailings ponds from bauxite mining in Porto Trombetas, Para State, Brazil. The tailings have a fine texture (77% clay), are low in nutrients, have low pH (4.5) and high Pfixation capacity. Thi...