The production of synthetic crude oil results in large volumes of fine tails which will remain as a fluid indefinitely (MacKinnon 1989). The overburden overlying Syncrude's oil sand deposit is a Cretaceous clay shale that is characteristically very dry and exhibits a high plasticity. Syncrude, with the support of AOSTRA, has investigated a technique of combining these two waste products together 10 form a soft clay which is incorporated into stable waste dumps.

Laboratory, field and analytical studies have been conducted to determine the geotechnical design parameters required for the construction and behaviour of the dump components, specifically, the containment ribs, the soft clay polder material and the equipment bearing layer. The studies lead to a large scale field test which utilized operations scale equipment. This paper discusses the results from the studies as well as the conclusions reached from the field tests. The work has increased the for fine tails wastes. This could lead to more effective knowledge base with regards to dry landscape alternatives for a safe disposal reclamation option development of oil sand leases.