State of the Art Oil Sands and Mining Reclamation Practices

This project provides a comprehensive review of current “state-of-the-art” practices in both oil sands and coal mine reclamation. The assessment is organized around key themes, including terrain, water, soil, vegetation, biodiversity, and other broader subject areas. Within this project, you will find: a summary of practices identified as “state of the art”; comparisons between current knowledge and the desired end-state of reclamation, highlighting gaps and priority research needs; an evaluation framework used to assess knowledge maturity and its contribution to reclamation practice across research topics; and insights generated through workshops with reclamation practitioners, who helped identify missing elements and refine research priorities. The final report synthesizes the state of knowledge, workshop outcomes, and recommended next steps—including key learnings from coal mine reclamation that may be transferable to

While some oil sands reclamation practices are well-established, significant knowledge gaps remain in areas such as soft tailings reclamation, watershed-scale reclamation, and the establishment of functional wetlands. Workshop participants emphasized the importance of integrating water management with terrain, soil, vegetation, and biodiversity considerations, adopting a watershed approach, and synthesizing existing research for broader implementation. High-priority research areas include geomorphic design for water shedding, monitoring of hydrologic connectivity, evaluating constituent transport, and developing robust soil and vegetation prescriptions resilient to climate variability. Mature practices, such as tailings sand reclamation, material balance, terrain stability, and fertilization, are considered low priority for further research due to their proven success. Key recommendations focus on knowledge transfer, collaborative research across disciplines, and applying lessons from other mining regions, particularly coal reclamation. Overall, the project provides a roadmap for COSIA to prioritize research efforts, enhance reclamation outcomes, and support long-term environmental monitoring and performance assessment.