When Ted Lord first learned of two competing visions for a centre of excellence in oil sands tailings research, he decided that Syncrude would be the catalyst to unite the university and government parties in their common cause. And he went one better, by also bringing industry to the table through the Canadian Oil Sands Network for Research and Development.

The new university centre had its grand opening in October of 2004. There, researchers are working to develop new tailings management practices, and also to develop a new generation of industry practitioners through the active involvement of students.

Ted says the Facility’s vision is to enable progressive reclamation of oil sands mines by producing a drier tailings stream that can be immediately put to work in the construction of reclaimed landscapes. He says the biggest challenge in oil sands tailings management today is a product called mature fine tailings, a soupy mix of water and suspended silts and clays that take hundreds of years to settle.

While progress has been made on the latter front, Ted says a goal is to eliminate their production entirely. "Tailings research is a long-term endeavour and my philosophy is that you’ve got to have the heart to win the race."