Technology Access Centre for Sustainable Mining
The Technology Access Centre for Sustainable Mining (TACSM), a part of the Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, is committed to advancing sustainability across Canada’s mining industry, encompassing oil sands, critical minerals, and water/tailings management. TACSM delivers applied research services across three technical pillars as well as knowledge to practice offerings which align to our services.
Technical Pillars
- Resource Management and Ore Recovery
- Industrial Water Management
- Tailings Management
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Our Centre's Capabilities
Browse ... Resource Management
We assist companies in better understanding their mineral resources and optimizing methods for recovering them (geometallurgy). We also support innovation in core scanning technologies, identifying value from waste streams and researching improvements to mineral processing unit operations.
Advanced ore/stream characterization
- Bulk and clay mineralogy by X-ray diffraction, morphology by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
- Elemental analysis by X-ray fluorescence, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and ICP-mass spectroscopy (MS)
- Surface area analysis by surface probe titrations, nitrogen-based surface area by BET (Brunauer, Emmet, and Teller) theory, and Particle size distribution by sieve and laser diffraction
Bitumen Extraction Services
Industrial Water Management
We assist partners in understanding water quality and develop treatment solutions to meet quality standards. For internal process streams, our research involves understanding the impact of water quality on key mineral processing and tailings treatment unit operations, enabling companies to evaluate and enhance water recycling technologies on-site. For water discharged off-site into the environment, we study the ongoing water quality and the environmental impacts on surrounding ecosystems.
High Temp, High Pressure, Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment
Industrial Water Characterization
- Development of Measurement and monitoring techniques for contaminants and water quality
- Water chemistry including pH, alkalinity, EC, hardness, major cations and anions, metals, suspended solids, total organics and inorganics.
- Naphthenic acids fraction compound evaluation through solvent extraction and Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy
- Bench scale testing of water treatment process including coagulation, flocculation, filtration, flotation, adsorption, phytoremediation, and oxidation,
- Testing of water sensors for measuring water chemistry
Tailings Management
We help develop and evaluate tailings dewatering technologies, while also investigating the long-term geotechnical and geochemical impacts of additives used in product recovery, water management, or dewatering processes. A key strength is our ability to integrate our ore characterization expertise with process knowledge to predict tailings behaviour as early as the core investigation phase. This capability is vital as stringent regulatory requirements encourage )operators to make tailings planning decisions earlier in the development process, often when limited samples preclude traditional geotechnical testing.
Flocculation and Dewatering
- Flocculation/coagulation testing (inline dewatering, thickener, centrifuging or filtration applications)
- Evaluation of natural dewatering technologies: freeze-thaw, evaporative drying, and plant assisted dewatering
- Evaluation of large-strain self weight consolidation
Industrial water and wastewater treatment
- Development of Measurement and monitoring techniques for contaminants and water quality
- Water chemistry including pH, alkalinity, EC, hardness, major cations and anions, metals, suspended solids, total organics and inorganics.
- Naphthenic acids fraction compound evaluation through solvent extraction and Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy
- Bench scale testing of water treatment process including coagulation, flocculation, filtration, flotation, adsorption, phytoremediation, and oxidation,
- Testing of water sensors for measuring water chemistry
Knowledge to Practice Services
Canada’s mining and energy industries face complex challenges requiring innovative solutions and continuous professional development. We leverage our expertise in Canada’s commodity sectors and understanding of regional technological trends to deliver training relevant to our industry partners. We continue to create significant impact in knowledge mobilization by:
- raising awareness of tools and techniques to empower practitioners to make informed decisions.
- equipping technology providers with the information needed to integrate their innovations into industry operations,
- developing highly qualified personnel (HQP) to sustain and enhance industry expertise, and
- demonstrating our expertise and services to attract new clients and partnerships.
Our Knowledge Mobilization Offerings
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