Development of Environmental Technology in Support of the Decommissioning of Uranium Tailings at Cluff Lake Mine

Cogema Resources Inc., together with the Unsaturated Soils Group at the University of Saskatchewan, initiated a multi-year research program at the Cluff Lake Mine during the summer of 1995. The objective of the research program is to investigate three key areas of environmental technology related to the decommissioning of uranium tailings in northern Saskatchewan. The first area of research is to evaluate methods for predicting the net flux of water across the tailings/atmosphere boundary. This research area consists of two phases; Phase I involves field monitoring of two sites (a tailings surface and a natural surface), while Phase II consists of numerical modelling. The second area of research is the characterization of the geochemistry and the development of methods for estimating the potential (leachable) contaminant mass. The last area of research is the characterization of paste tailings and involves determining the hydraulic and mechanical properties of the tailings. This paper briefly outlines the research program with a particular emphasis on the field instrumentation program currently being undertaken at Cluff Lake Mine.