Research

The RIME’s research program focuses on several major themes related to mining and the environment. Our program currently includes several research chairs and a dozen major research projects. In addition to the financial support provided by our industrial partners, funding for research is provided by both provincial and federal funding agencies from Quebec and Canada.

Research Themes

Mine site reclamation

Circular economy applied to mines : Valorization and integrated management of wastes

Geotechnical and geoenvironmental stability of mine waste storage facilities

Water quality prediction

Treatment and management of mine waters

Transport of contaminants in the environment

Influence of climatic conditions

Knowledge sharing and exchanges with local communities

Research Chairs

NSERC-UQAT industrial chair on mine reclamation

Chairholder : Bruno Bussière

The long-term goal of this Research Chair is to develop reclamation strategies that limit the environmental impacts and risks of mining. This industrial chair has enabled the development of innovative new technologies, as well as the improvement of existing technologies, for the reclamation of tailings storage facilities and waste rock piles.

Research projects

…coming soon

Research projects completed

  • (Last update: february 2024)
  • Waste rock inclusions in filtered tailings storage facilities to improve their hydrogeotechnical and geochemical stability (T. Pabst)
  • Management and progressive reclamation of acid generating filtered tailings (T. Pabst)
  • Development of hydrogeotechnical and operational criteria to improve the long-term stability of waste rocks piles and mine infrastructures that valorize waste rocks (C. Ovalle)
  • Performance of cover systems with geomembranes to control contamination from tailings impoundments (B. Bussière)
  • Impact of mineralogy (presence of phyllosilicates) on operational risk associated with the management of tailings incorporating cement (T. Belem)
  • Hydrogeotechnical behavior of filtered tailings impoundments in northern conditions (B. Bussière)
  • Improvement of prediction tools for contaminated mine drainage: Assessment of scale, geomicrobiology, and sorption issues (B. Plante)
  • Development of an automated electrical measurement system to support the monitoring of mine site reclamation infrastructures (L. Z. Cheng)
  • Characterization and treatment of contaminants of emerging concern in mine effluents (C. Neculita)
  • Reduction of AMD and DNC generation from mine wastes (I. Demers)
  • Optimisation of rheological properties to minimize hydraulic segregation of concentrator tailings in hard rock mines (M. Mbonimpa)
  • Valorization of sludge to control the dispersion of wind erosion dust and for mine site reclamation (M. Mbonimpa)
  • Influence of the revegetation layer on the water balance of mine reclamation covers (M. Guittonny)
  • Optimization of the production of desulfurized tailings for their valorization in mine site reclamation (I. Demers)
  • Reclamation of tailings impoundments and climate change: development and application of tools to support adaptation (B. Bussière, I. Demers et T. Pabst)
  • Treatment of mine waters contaminated with cyanides and their derivatives (C. Neculita)
  • NSERC’s Toward Environmentally Responsible Resource Extraction Network (TERRE-NET) (B. Bussière, I. Demers)
  • Cemented mine backfill used in permafrost (M. Mbonimpa)
  • Prediction of mine drainage quality in northern climates and its treatment (C. Neculita)
  • Influence of vegetation on the performance of oxygen barriers to control acid mine drainage (B. Bussière)
  • Development of a methodological approach to integrate climate change into the design of tailings impoundments and reclamation infrastructures (B. Bussière)
  • Thickening of tailings pulps for surface deposition or the production of cemented mine backfills using superabsorbent polymers (T. Belem)
  • Treatment of salinity and associated toxicity in mining effluents (C. Neculita)
  • Passive treatment of highly contaminated acid mine drainage (G. Zagury)
  • Development of a waste rock pile management method to limit the production of contaminated drainage by controlling water infiltration (B. Bussière)
  • Factors that influence natural colonization by trees and their rooting in plantations on waste rocks slopes in boreal region (M. Guittonny)
  • Disposal of waste rocks to minimize their environmental impact: Optimal design of waste rock piles and innovative use of waste rocks at mine sites (M. Aubertin)
  • Backfilling and disposal of solid wastes for safer and more sustainable mine development: Studies on the interactions between embankments and deep mining structures (L. Li)
  • Integrated management of mine wastes for open pit mines: Evaluation of a disposal approach for tailings and reactive waste rocks in pits (L. Li)
  • Valorization of waste rocks directly at mine sites (L. Li)
  • Optimization of the use of waste rock inclusions in tailings impoundments to improve their short- and long-term performance (M. Aubertin)