An Overview of Syncrude's Current Land Reclamation Programs

Syncrude Canada Ltd. is an oil sands surface mining and processing venture located at the Athabasca Oil Sands
deposit in northeastem Alberta. The, Alberta Government maintains that mined land be reclaimed to an
acceptable end land use with a capability "equal to or better than" that which was present prior to mining. This
paper presents an overview of Syncrude's current land reclamation activities. During 1990, 48 hectares of land
were capped with reclamation material to depths varying from 30 cm to 100 cm. A total of 178,000 locally grown
indigenous tree seedlings were produced and 98,000 seedlings are planted on the capping materials. In addition,
11 reclamation research projects and 4 reclamation monitoring projects are in progress. The accumulated
knowledge gained from these projects will lead to more cost-effective strategies and techniques of land
reclamation.