Land reclamation using oil sands processing tailings

Establishment of self-sustaining ecosystems is a major challenge in the reclamation of the oil sands processing residues. It is extremely difficult to establish a plant community on these residues without improving their physical structure. We developed a procedure to create artificially aggregated soil or soil-like materials using oil sand mining residues, namely mature fine tails (MFT), composite tails (CT), and tailings sand (TS). A greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate plant performance on the artificially aggregated materials. Three plant species, AEC highlander (grass), Alpine Milkvetch (legume), and saskatoon, were grown in seven different treatments, including 1:1 ratio of MFT:CT with 5% peat moss, 1:1 ratio of MFT:CT with 10% peat moss, 1:1 ratio of MFT:CT with 15% peat moss, 1:1 ratio of MFT: TS with 5% peat moss, 1:1 ratio of MFT:TS with 10% peat moss, 1:1 ratio of MFT:TS with 15% peat moss, and control (land reclamation materials). The results indicated that it is possible to create a plant growth medium using oil sands processing residues. Further research should focus on the selection of salt-tolerant plant species as well as the ways of reducing salt levels in the soil profile.