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The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings / HEATHER DE-QUINCEY

Swansea University Author: HEATHER DE-QUINCEY

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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.56851

Abstract

Abandoned mines are considered among the most severe of environmental issues, and are a significant danger to environmental, animal, and human health (Mehta et al., 2020). To date, ~ 600,000 abandoned mines exist, the costly reclamation of which often falls to publicly funded bodies (Archer & Ca...

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Published: Swansea 2020
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Robertson, I. ; Street-Perrott, A.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56851
first_indexed 2021-05-12T10:09:15Z
last_indexed 2021-05-13T03:23:13Z
id cronfa56851
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2021-05-12T12:15:43.2261975 v2 56851 2021-05-12 The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings 4a3e2873a5dfc7c5a8cf0e2a97dd46a3 HEATHER DE-QUINCEY HEATHER DE-QUINCEY true false 2021-05-12 Abandoned mines are considered among the most severe of environmental issues, and are a significant danger to environmental, animal, and human health (Mehta et al., 2020). To date, ~ 600,000 abandoned mines exist, the costly reclamation of which often falls to publicly funded bodies (Archer & Caldwell, 2004; Mayes et al., 2009). Traditional reclamation methods are financially unattainable at ~ £50 million per large mine (McKenna, 2002), and an alternative, lower-cost method is required (Garcia, 2008). One contemporary reclamation method found to be effective is that of capping mine waste with a soil cover (O’Kane & Ayres, 2012). In this research, an adhesive surrogate soil capping layer for the hydraulic application to steep-sided metal-mine tailings was developed at the cost of ~ £6 .m-² (at the time of writing). The surrogate soil was refined throughout a series of trials. A rainfall trial was conducted to develop an adhesive and erosion resistant soil material. A germination trial (N = 500) determined the soil materials which best assisted rapid plant establishment. The successful results of these laboratory-based trials guided a nine-month field trial on an abandoned Pb mine, Nantymwyn (UK) (N = 154). The field trial concluded that the surrogate soils effectively resisted erosion and supported the early (seven month) growth of metal-tolerant grass species. The grasses contained Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu concentrations at < 1% of the phytotoxic threshold. However, seasonal climatic events and a negative water balance ultimately led to complete grass mortality after nine months. Tailings bank destabilisation also influenced grass survival. The research revealed that the soil’s available water supply was of greater impact to plant survival than metal toxicity. The results indicated that should the soils water-holding capacity be improved, the application of a carefully designed surrogate soil has the potential to support vegetative cover on steep, bare metal-mine tailings. E-Thesis Swansea Mining, restoration, reclamation, soil, biochar 5 10 2020 2020-10-05 10.23889/SUthesis.56851 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Robertson, I. ; Street-Perrott, A. Doctoral Ph.D KESS, TerrAffix, Salix River and Wetland 2021-05-12T12:15:43.2261975 2021-05-12T11:02:31.3824264 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography HEATHER DE-QUINCEY 1 56851__19857__aeb4bfac1b3a41388b7db9d14154f11a.pdf Heather De-Quincey-PhD_Redacted_Signature.pdf 2021-05-12T11:38:49.3663730 Output 20363447 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: The author, Heather De-Quincey, 2020. true eng
title The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings
spellingShingle The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings
HEATHER DE-QUINCEY
title_short The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings
title_full The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings
title_fullStr The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings
title_full_unstemmed The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings
title_sort The development of a surrogate soil to assist the revegetation and stabilisation of metal-mine tailings
author_id_str_mv 4a3e2873a5dfc7c5a8cf0e2a97dd46a3
author_id_fullname_str_mv 4a3e2873a5dfc7c5a8cf0e2a97dd46a3_***_HEATHER DE-QUINCEY
author HEATHER DE-QUINCEY
author2 HEATHER DE-QUINCEY
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2020
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUthesis.56851
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Geography
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Abandoned mines are considered among the most severe of environmental issues, and are a significant danger to environmental, animal, and human health (Mehta et al., 2020). To date, ~ 600,000 abandoned mines exist, the costly reclamation of which often falls to publicly funded bodies (Archer & Caldwell, 2004; Mayes et al., 2009). Traditional reclamation methods are financially unattainable at ~ £50 million per large mine (McKenna, 2002), and an alternative, lower-cost method is required (Garcia, 2008). One contemporary reclamation method found to be effective is that of capping mine waste with a soil cover (O’Kane & Ayres, 2012). In this research, an adhesive surrogate soil capping layer for the hydraulic application to steep-sided metal-mine tailings was developed at the cost of ~ £6 .m-² (at the time of writing). The surrogate soil was refined throughout a series of trials. A rainfall trial was conducted to develop an adhesive and erosion resistant soil material. A germination trial (N = 500) determined the soil materials which best assisted rapid plant establishment. The successful results of these laboratory-based trials guided a nine-month field trial on an abandoned Pb mine, Nantymwyn (UK) (N = 154). The field trial concluded that the surrogate soils effectively resisted erosion and supported the early (seven month) growth of metal-tolerant grass species. The grasses contained Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu concentrations at < 1% of the phytotoxic threshold. However, seasonal climatic events and a negative water balance ultimately led to complete grass mortality after nine months. Tailings bank destabilisation also influenced grass survival. The research revealed that the soil’s available water supply was of greater impact to plant survival than metal toxicity. The results indicated that should the soils water-holding capacity be improved, the application of a carefully designed surrogate soil has the potential to support vegetative cover on steep, bare metal-mine tailings.
published_date 2020-10-05T14:10:52Z
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score 11.048453

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