The energy gains, however, make it viable. This method requires huge amounts of energy, accounting for around 4% of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin natural gas production and set to rise to 10% by 2015. Ever since large-scale mining of the sands began, variations of this approach have been used to separate aerated bitumen from the other constituents of oil sand within gravity settling vessels. The first process to extract bitumen from oil sands on a commercial scale, developed in the 1920s by Dr Karl Clark, a scientist involved in hot water extraction, working for the Alberta Research Council. Other techniques include cyclic steam stimulation (CSS), vapour extraction (VAPEX) and toe-to-heel-air-injection (THAI) – an approach based on injecting air into the well to ignite it and so stimulate the oil flow. Steam is injected into the deposit through drilled holes to heat the oil sand and lower the viscosity of the bitumen, enabling it to migrate towards drilled wells and allowing it to be brought to the surface, leaving the sand behind. Of the currently available in situ technologies, steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) is probably the best known. Use of these extraction techniques on a commercial scale is currently in its early phase, though it may ultimately come to replace open mining as the main means of bitumen production from oil sands. However, the recent rises in world oil prices coupled with the fact that around 80% of the oil sands resource is buried too deeply for open-pit mining, have led to the use of in-situ alternatives gaining ground. In addition, extensive use is made of wireless network communication, GPS and dispatching systems to optimise operations. In 1978, when Syncrude opened its operation, the company introduced large draglines and conveyor systems to oil sand exploitation, which have given way to the greater selectivity and cost efficiency offered by truck and shovel mining.Ī variety of electric and hydraulic shovels, excavators, haul trucks and dozers are used from most of the major manufacturers including P&H, Terex / O&K, Bucyrus, Caterpillar and Komatsu. Mining methods have changed since the launch of the first large-scale mine, with Great Canadian Oil Sands then using bucket-wheels brought from the coal mining industry. ![]() The oil sands proven reserves are 176 billion barrels, consisting of 174 billion barrels of bitumen and 1.6 billion barrels of crude oil, with a total recoverable reserve put at 335 billion barrels (315 and 19.7 billion barrels respectively). In around 10% of the Athabasca deposit – an area amounting to some 3,400km² – the relatively shallow overburden of less than 75m makes surface mining possible. The underlying sedimentary geology reflects a continuum of aquatic environments from fluvial through estuarine and finally marine shoreline.įorming a belt some 40-60m thick, the oil sands sit on the underlying flat limestone, beneath clay and sand, often covered by a surface layer of water-logged peat between one to three metres deep. The deposits accumulated in incised valleys within Devonian strata, which were subsequently modified by the rising sea levels in the early Cretaceous. The origins of the huge resource are believed to lie in the north-easterly migration of light crude from southern Alberta, driven by the same geological forces that caused the formation of the Rocky Mountains, gradually being transformed into more viscous bitumen over time. Although the amount of bitumen they may contain can range from one to 20%, they are typically around 10%, with the remainder being 83% silica sand, 4% water and 3% fluvial clay. The oil sands are a mixture of sand, crude bitumen, water and clay. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers has predicted that ten years later, while oil production will have reached 4.8 million barrels per day, only around 10% will be conventional crude oil – synthetic crude from the Athabasca deposit making up most of the rest. As more projects come onstream, oil sands production is projected to make up about two thirds of Canadian oil production by 2010. In December 2002, the Oil & Gas Journal reported that, holding 15% of the world’s proven crude oil reserves, Canada ranks as number two in the world – after Saudi Arabia – with Alberta’s oil sands accounting for the bulk of the country’s store. “Oil sands production is projected to make up about two thirds of Canadian oil production by 2010.” Introducing the Excellence Awards & Rankings 2022. ![]() Non-Metallic Mineral Mining and Quarrying.
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