Aurora Project

	Opening ceremonies at the Aurora project

With the official opening of the Aurora mine in August 2000, we took another bold step toward realizing our vision of securing Canada's energy future.

Stage 3 of the Syncrude 21 project added a second production train at Aurora at the end of 2003.

With Aurora, Syncrude has embarked on the next generation of bitumen production from the Athabasca oil sands, with new technologies that are changing the way we do business. Aurora represents an opportunity to unlock regional development and provides a platform of growth for us well into the next century.

Truck-shovel mining

O&K hydraulic shovel loading a CAT 797 truck At Aurora, trucks and shovels remove the surface material (overburden) and mine the oil sand. The 400-ton trucks used at Aurora are the largest in the world. The hydraulic shovels are also the biggest in the world, digging 43 cubic metres of material with each scoop.

Hydrotransport of oil sand Oil sand feed to the cyclofeeder (North mine) Hydrotransport technology enables oil sand to be transported by pipeline as a slurry from mining to extraction, rather than using conveyor belts. One of its greatest benefits is that, as the oil sand is transported through the pipeline, it is being conditioned, taking care of the first step of the extraction process.   Developed to a commercial scale by Syncrude, hydrotransport has been part of our operation since 1993, with full production implementation in the North Mine in 1996.

Low energy extraction process The Primary Separation Vessel, heart of the extraction plant at Aurora Aurora takes another step in energy efficiency with an entirely new extraction process that operates at approximately 40ºC. At these temperatures, the new Low Energy Extraction process consumes about one-third of the energy of the traditional 80ºC process, bringing huge cost and environmental benefits.

Natural froth lubricity

Instead of adding a diluent, such as naphtha, Syncrude developed a new technology to ship the froth by pipeline from Aurora to its Mildred Lake processing facilities 35 kilometres away. This new technology, called Natural Froth Lubricity, uses the naturally formed sheath of water that forms a sleeve in the pipeline and allows the bitumen froth to be sent by pipeline to our existing base plant for upgrading.

 

Improved tailings disposal methods

We are developing and applying landscape engineering techniques for more efficient reclamation and closure planning.