Environment committee  If I look at the history of the industry, about the shortest cycle I've seen for implementing a transformative new technology has been in the range of five years, from initial conception through to the start of construction. So it's seven years or more from the initial idea throu

Environment committee  All of the technologies use solvent in treating the bitumen at one point of the process. So all of the tailings ponds contain solvents. In comparison with the naphthenic acid material, the solvents are readily biodegradable. So they pose a short-term environmental issue, but they

Environment committee  There are three key themes we're working on. One is improved mining technology that allows mining without as much impact on the landscape. Another is waterless or near-waterless extraction to particularly minimize the tailings. The use of water is less of an issue, in my mind, th

Environment committee  We are collaborating. As I mentioned earlier, our centre has projects with the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria, and Queen's University. We hope within a few weeks to start a project at the University of Ottawa. I was down at Rice University in Houston l

Environment committee  I would say no more tailings ponds. That would be my vision. If we could eliminate tailings ponds, that would transform the mining side of the industry completely. You would see much faster movement from mining to reclamation, and a much reduced area of land disturbance at any gi

Environment committee  I was just going to add that I'm not an expert in this area at all, but for me as a Canadian, one of the key policy issues is what constitutes successful reclamation. This has been an area of huge debate. Does reclamation constitute putting the landscape back into a productive mo

Environment committee  I'll just follow up on a couple of comments by Dr. Guigard. When you look at technology development, to come up with a transformative technology you expect to have to look at 10 to 20 different ideas that you pursue through university-type research. Then you decide which are t

Environment committee  No.

Environment committee  Stackable tailings, I think, are the dream for the mining side of the industry. It would mean you could immediately put tailings back into the mine and start reclaiming right away. One of the unique characteristics of these mines is that because of the tailings, they have a ver

Environment committee  Without going through a pond at all.

Environment committee  Yes. He's a world expert in dealing with tailings in any conceivable way.

Environment committee  I'm a professor of chemical engineering, so I have to beg ignorance on the detailed medical aspects. I know I've tasted the water. As I mentioned to Monsieur Ouellet, the key is in concentration. The big issue for anyone who's interested in the effect on drinking water is what is

Environment committee  In terms of hydrocarbons, which I can answer your question on, hydrocarbons, in general, do not typically bioaccumulate in humans. That doesn't mean there's no health impact. Some of the light hydrocarbons that are present in gasoline, for example, can cause cancer in humans, but

Environment committee  The addition of gypsum, or calcium sulphate, has been quite well known for a long time. What's been more transformative is the techniques the companies have developed to mix it. They take the tailings, mix in gypsum and sand, and then they can put that mixture back into the mine.

Environment committee  For our innovation centre, the priorities are set by the people who are providing the funding, along with the University of Alberta. So we have an executive committee that consists of representatives from industry, the Government of Alberta, and from the University of Alberta, th