Page No. 147-1 Rock the Foundation Convention, June 18-22, 2001 Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Integrated Mine Planning for the Fort Hills Oil Sands Project Virginia Odegaard NorWest Mine Services Ltd., 400, 205-9 th Ave. SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0R3 [email protected], Peter MacFarlane and Burns Cheadle Koch Petroleum Canada, L.P, 1400 111-5 th Ave. SW, Calgary, AB T2P 3Y6 [email protected][email protected]ABSTRACT The proposed Fort Hills Oil Sands Project is located 90 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, in the Athabasca Oil Sands region and comprises Oil Sands Leases 5, 8, and 52 (Figure 1). TrueNorth Energy L.P. is the operator and majority interest owner of the project. In May of 1998, TrueNorth Energy acquired a 78 percent interest in Oil Sands Leases 5 and 52. UTS Energy Corporation, TrueNorth Energy’s partner in the project, holds the remaining 22 percent. In December 2000, Oil Sands Lease 8 was acquired, bringing the total area of the Fort Hills Oil Sands Project to approximately 18,700 hectares. The mineable oil sands in the project area are found in the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) McMurray Formation of the Mannville Group. The McMurray Formation has been informally subdivided in the project area into a lower fluvial member, a middle estuarine member and an upper marginal marine member. All three members contain mineable oil sands, and are further subdivided into distinct facies associations for the purpose of improving resource delineation and characterization (Figure 2). Drill programs of ever-increasing size and scope have followed review of previous leaseholders’ data. This has resulted in a 3D geological block-model being developed using a very large database of core, borehole geophysical logs and core analyses data (Table 1). Assessment and modeling of data from over 400 drillholes within the project area has resulted in the delineation of approximately 2.4 billion barrels of surface mineable reserves. Over 400 additional core holes are currently being assessed and integrated into the geological model (Figure 3). Characteristics of the ore, which are critical to mining and ore processing, are also managed within the geological model to facilitate mine planning. The 3D block-model enables the mining engineers and planners to discriminate between ore and waste material more effectively, and thus predict volumes of material to be mined. The geological model also facilitates associated efforts, such as geotechnical, hydrological, hydrogeological, environmental, reclamation and ore process planning. The Fort Hills Oil Sands Project is planned to initially mine and process
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Integrated Mine Planning for the Fort Hills Oil Sands Project
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Page No. 147-1
Rock the Foundation Convention, June 18-22, 2001Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
Integrated Mine Planning for the Fort Hills Oil Sands Project
Virginia OdegaardNorWest Mine Services Ltd., 400, 205-9 th Ave. SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0R3
ABSTRACTThe proposed Fort Hills Oil Sands Project is located 90 kilometres north of FortMcMurray, Alberta, in the Athabasca Oil Sands region and comprises Oil SandsLeases 5, 8, and 52 (Figure 1). TrueNorth Energy L.P. is the operator andmajority interest owner of the project. In May of 1998, TrueNorth Energy acquireda 78 percent interest in Oil Sands Leases 5 and 52. UTS Energy Corporation,TrueNorth Energy’s partner in the project, holds the remaining 22 percent. InDecember 2000, Oil Sands Lease 8 was acquired, bringing the total area of theFort Hills Oil Sands Project to approximately 18,700 hectares.
The mineable oil sands in the project area are found in the Lower Cretaceous(Aptian) McMurray Formation of the Mannville Group. The McMurray Formationhas been informally subdivided in the project area into a lower fluvial member, amiddle estuarine member and an upper marginal marine member. All threemembers contain mineable oil sands, and are further subdivided into distinctfacies associations for the purpose of improving resource delineation andcharacterization (Figure 2).
Drill programs of ever-increasing size and scope have followed review ofprevious leaseholders’ data. This has resulted in a 3D geological block-modelbeing developed using a very large database of core, borehole geophysical logsand core analyses data (Table 1). Assessment and modeling of data from over400 drillholes within the project area has resulted in the delineation ofapproximately 2.4 billion barrels of surface mineable reserves. Over 400additional core holes are currently being assessed and integrated into thegeological model (Figure 3).
Characteristics of the ore, which are critical to mining and ore processing, arealso managed within the geological model to facilitate mine planning. The 3Dblock-model enables the mining engineers and planners to discriminate betweenore and waste material more effectively, and thus predict volumes of material tobe mined. The geological model also facilitates associated efforts, such asgeotechnical, hydrological, hydrogeological, environmental, reclamation and oreprocess planning.
The Fort Hills Oil Sands Project is planned to initially mine and process
Rock the Foundation Convention, June 18-22, 2001Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
approximately 56 million tonnes per year of oil sand, yielding 95,000 barrels ofbitumen per day starting in 2005 in its proposed South Mine (Figure 4). This willbe increased to 190,000 barrels per day by 2009, through the introduction of asecond production train. The total life of mine is projected to be in excess of 30years, and it is anticipated that during the construction phase alone, 5,000person years of employment will be created. During the operating phase, 1,000full-time jobs are envisioned.
The open-pit truck and shovel mine will deliver oil sand feed to the crushing plantwhere oversized material will be crushed. The oil sand will then be conveyed to aslurry preparation unit where it will be mixed with water and subsequentlytransported through a pipeline to an extraction vessel. A low temperatureextraction process will be used to conserve energy. A thickened tailings processis planned which will allow reclamation of tailings to proceed much more quickly(Figure 5). A co-generation unit will be included in the project to supply thermalenergy requirements for the process while efficiently generating power for siteneeds as well as surplus electrical energy.
The Fort Hills Oil Sands Project will produce a bitumen blend that can betransported through the common carrier pipeline system to refinery markets inCanada and the Midwest United States.
The mine permit application and associated environmental impact assessmentsare planned for filing in the second quarter of 2001.
Page No. 147-3
Rock the Foundation Convention, June 18-22, 2001Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
Figure 1 Location Map - Fort Hills Oil Sands Project
FORT McMURRAY
FORT MacKAY
BITUMOUNT
A L B E R T A
INDEX MAP
C A N A D A
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Rock the Foundation Convention, June 18-22, 2001Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists
Figure 2 Stratigraphic Chart – Fort Hills Oil Sands Project