Shell Upstream Americas

Heavy Oil – Oil Sands Mining

In-Pit Dyke Construction Planning

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Authors and Presenters

Authors
• Robin Fauquier and Tim Eaton
– Shell Canada Limited

• Laura Bowie and Duane Treacy

– Shell Albian Sands, Muskeg River Mine

• Jay Horton
– .

Presenter
• Robin Fauquier
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Site Description
• Muskeg River Mine is a
bitumen mining and extraction
operation located 70kms north
of Ft. McMurray, Alberta.
• Production at MRM started in
early 2003 and currently
operates at capacity of 155,000
bpd of bitumen.
• Jointly owned by Royal Dutch
Shell plc (60%), Marathon Oil
Corporation (20%) and Chevron
Corporation (20%).
• Operated by Shell Canada
Ltd.
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Background

• Three types of waste are generated

at MRM as a bi-product of bitumen
mining:
•Tailings,
•Construction Materials; and
•General Waste.
• The tailings storage plan requires
in-pit dykes to be designed,
constructed and operated on a
continual basis throughout the life of
mine.
• This presentation briefly describes
the in-pit dykes planning process at
MRM.
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Dyke Construction Planning

• MRM in pit dyke construction planning currently involves a team of

people working towards a common goal of building the dykes on time,
within budget and within the design specifications.
– Exploration and Field Geologists.
– Geotechnical Designers and Monitors
– Long, Mid and Short Range Mine Planners
– Tailings Planners
– Field Engineers
– Operation and Project Teams
• Complex planning and construction process!
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Construction Material - Prediction

• In-pit dyke construction materials are derived from overburden and
interburden seams.
• During exploration drilling, in-situ waste is tested for:
– particle size
– water content
– bitumen content
• Mined waste materials are retested for index properties, along with:
– Standard and Modified Proctors
– Atterberg limits
– Permeability
– Direct Shear
– Trixaial
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Fines Content (74u)

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Water Content
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Bitumen Content
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Construction Material – Prediction

• Construction Material prediction is carried out using the
resource block model.
• Each block is assigned a waste type corresponding to a
design material type.
– Historically modeling has been based on general geological facies
characteristics.
– Modeling refinements are moving away from the use of general
facies characteristics towards measured index properties.

• Block Model is used by both designers and planning

engineers to develop dyke design and construction plans.
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Dyke Construction Planning – Long to Mid Range

Coarse
Tailings
Deposition

Fluid
Recovery Tailings
to ETF Deposition
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Dyke Construction Planning - Short Range

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Dyke Construction Planning - Short Range

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Conclusion

• The tailings storage plan requires in-pit dykes to be designed,

constructed and operated on a continual basis throughout the life of
mine.
• The primary source for in-pit dykes construction materials is overburden
and interburden waste.
• Construction material prediction is carried out using a geological block
model while construction monitors are responsible for making the final
judgment on material suitability in the field.
• In-pit dyke construction planning at MRM is complex process that
requires devoted resources in order to maximize material utilization.