_{Background Image by D. Shuttleworth, Used with Permission by OKC}

The MOST research facility will bring long-term benefits to industry in terms of reductions in time and resources through implementation of effective and efficient reclaimed mine overlay designs and innovations in operational process. Typically the evolution of field-based cover system under natural conditions occurs over 3-5 years, which allows for its exposure to multiple cycles of freeze, thaw, rain and temperatures.  It is expected that MOST will accelerate this process by simulating natural conditions in a confined space and can achieve similar outcomes with 3-12 month period (e.g. multiple freeze-thaw and snowmelt cycles through a winter). This ability of accelerating what happens in the field over years, to weeks to months at CR-MOST is a key selling feature of our facility.  We will also have the ability to address geochemical evolution of cover systems—including questions related to the evolution of grain sizes and also the generation of acidic conditions, mobility of metals and metalloids, microbial evolution, etc.

First of its kind facility to:

• Test cover designs at a scale that bridges between the lab bench scale and full scale cover trials but with field scale replication of key processes (placement conditions, climate, slope/aspect, vegetation, etc.) and for a fraction of the cost of an onsite test cover.
• Evaluate and characterize key mechanisms controlling performance including water and solute dynamics at hill-slope scales.
• Provide sufficiently realistic but controlled/monitored conditions for evaluation of numerical methods/models to simulate water flow and solute transport dynamics.
• Evaluate practical limitations linking cover design/specifications to field performance and cost.

Opportunity to Leverage Funding:

Being a University entity, MOST has the capability to leverage industry investment in our research and consulting projects through various provincial and federal agencies. Consequently, depending on whether industry would like to establish a grant or a contract, we could leverage their support by up to 4 times. Please contact us for details.