![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Syncrude_mildred_lake_plant.jpg/640px-Syncrude_mildred_lake_plant.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Syncrude Tailings Dam
Dam in Alberta, Canada / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Syncrude Tailings Dam?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The Syncrude Tailings Dam, impounding the Mildred Lake Settling Basin (MLSB), is an embankment dam that is, by volume of construction material, the largest earth structure in the world in 2001.[1] It is located 40 km (25 mi) north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, at the northern end of the Mildred Lake lease area owned by Syncrude Canada Ltd. The dam and the tailings reservoir within it are constructed and maintained as part of ongoing operations by Syncrude in extracting oil from the Athabasca oil sands. Other tailings dams constructed and operated in the same area by Syncrude include the Southwest Sand Storage (SWSS),[2] which is the third largest dam in the world by volume of construction material after the Tarbela Dam.[citation needed]
Syncrude Tailings Dam | |
---|---|
![]() Syncrude Tailings Dam – Mildred Lake Settling Basin, enclosing tailings pond | |
Official name | Syncrude Tailings Dam |
Location | Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada |
Coordinates | 57.057°N 111.600°W / 57.057; -111.600 |
Construction began | 1978 |
Operator(s) | Syncrude Canada Ltd. |
Dam and spillways | |
Height | 133 to 288 ft (41 to 88 m) (2001)[1] |
Length | 11.3 miles (18.2 km) (2001)[1] |