Land Use

Syncrude continues to lead the oil sands industry in land remediation, with 22 per cent of total disturbed land now reclaimed. At our Base mine site, the reclamation rate in 2005 exceeded that of disturbance for the first time. This trend will continue as the mine reaches the end of its production life in 2006 and the operations focus moves to the North and Aurora mine areas.

In 2005, $14 million was spent on reclamation activities. Due to material availability, we did not meet our reclamation target for 2005; however, it was still a record year, during which more than 300 hectares of land was reclaimed and 659,400 seedlings were planted.

Syncrude remains committed to minimizing the amount of land we disturb at any given time and is implementing innovative and progressive reclamation strategies. Over the next few years, we will concentrate our efforts on soil and vegetation development, landform design and construction, development of new reclamation methods and wildlife habitat enhancement. In addition, we continue to work with the Government of Alberta towards reclamation certification.

Top awards for wood bison project

Through the Beaver Creek Wood Bison Ranch, Syncrude and the Fort McKay First Nation co-manage the country’s largest conservation herd of wood bison outside of the national parks. This project contributes to our ongoing reclamation research. Work continues to register the herd of some 300, which may aid in species conservation efforts by confirming the animals are indeed pure wood bison. The health of the herd remains excellent. In fact, awards were won by each of the eight animals entered into the annual Wild Rose Classic Show and Sale, including the top prize of Reserve Grand Champion.

Tailings

During the year, work to reclaim Syncrude’s former East mine continued, using composite tailings as the foundation for the future landform. Already, some 35 million cubic metres of tailings have been deposited in this area, which will see full-scale reclamation and planting around 2010. As work progresses, increased consultation is planned to inform stakeholders of key milestones and the long-term vision for this area.

The composite tailings process is more fully discussed on page 60 of Syncrude’s 2003 Sustainability Report: www.syncrude.com

Tailings technology development continues to be a high priority for Syncrude’s research teams; they are focused on minimizing the impact of our operations, improving our reclamation capabilities, earning the support of our stakeholders and reducing costs.

Land Reclamation

Actions taken by Syncrude in response to stakeholder concerns raised during our stakeholder engagement processes are noted throughout this report; these actions are indicated by the symbol.