Syncrude Oil Sand Mine, Alberta, Canada
Key Data:
Producer of
Synthetic crude oil
Location
40km north of Fort McMurray, in northern Alberta.
Ownership
Canadian Oil Sands Trust (36.74%); Imperial Oil Resources (25%); Petro-Canada Oil and Gas (12%); Conoco Phillips Oil Sands Partnership (9.03%); Nexen (7.23%); Mocal Energy (5%); Murphy Oil (5%)
Geology type
Oil sands – a mixture of 83% silica sand, 10% crude bitumen, 4% water, 3% clay contained in a fluvial sedimentary horizon
Mineral type
Natural bitumen
Reserve base
2,700Mbbl crude oil proven, plus 6,300Mbbl possible
Annual production
94.25 million barrels of Syncrude Sweet Blend (2006)
Mining method
Shovel-and-truck surface mining; one remaining dragline/bucket-wheel reclaimer unit
Processing method
Crushing followed by raw bitumen extraction using warm water, then upgrading to produce synthetic crude oil
Employment
4,325 plus construction and engineering contractor staff; 14,000 people directly and indirectly across Canada
Key Equipment:
Mining
Shovels
2x Bucyrus-Erie 395B Electric, 1x O&K RH200, 4x O&K RH400, 8x P&H 4100 TS and 8055.
Trucks
15x Cat 793, 33x Cat 797, 13x Haulpak 930E, 5x Liebherr T282
Dragline
1x Marion 8750
Bucket wheel
1x O&K (Krupp)
Graders
12x Cat 24H, 3x Cat 16G
Dozers
2x Cat D10R, 20x Cat D11 N/R, 22x Cat D7; Komatsu D375
Pumps
Diesel: 54x Gorman Rupp; Electric: 9x Gorman, 10x Hazelton, 1x Flygt 2400, 1x 2200, 10x 2250, 4x Warman VFD slurry
Crushers
MMD double-roll
Processing
Centrifuges
24 Bird scroll, 56 Alfa Laval disc
Settling vessel
8 Inclined plate
Filters
10 Cuno
