This report is an appendix to the EcoSmart Project s Metakaolin Study. The report presents the results of NLK s metakaolin pre-feasibility review of the potential for developing metakaolin from the oil sands operations for use in concrete as a supplementary cementing material. The report covers the technical economic and environmental aspects of recovering and converting kaolin to metakaolin and of using metakaolin as a SCM.
The report concludes that metakaolin produced from the oil sands tailings is comparable to silica fume as an additive and is about 85-90% as reactive as commercially available metakaolin. It is technically viable for use as an SCM in concrete although its slight colouration precludes some uses. A precondition to considering the viability of extracted metakaolin is that it can be supplied at a low enough cost to provide economic benefits to ready mix concrete suppliers with resulting demand that it is adequate to justify an extraction plant.
Technical Report Author: NLK Consultants Inc.