Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
3.9
2.5
Journals
Minerals
Special Issues
Biological Reclamation and Bio-Remediation of Former Mine Sites
share announcement

Biological Reclamation and Bio-Remediation of Former Mine Sites

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (27 November 2020) | Viewed by 11353

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Martin Haigh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Geography (School of Social Sciences), Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
Interests: forest reclamation and phytoremediation of former surface coal-mines; community and NGO-based land reclamation; self-sustainable land reclamation; mine–soil development, hydrology, runoff, erosion and sediment control; water quality and contamination; watershed management; ecosystem services in post-industrial areas; causes of the degradation of previously ‘reclaimed’ land; education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Whilst the money generated by mining disappears swiftly, its legacy of mining wastes, whether such wastes are reclaimed successfully, unsuccessfully or simply abandoned, remains indefinitely.  Where these lands are not converted to a sustainable economic or urban after use, they must be reclaimed biologically for agriculture or forestry or returned to Nature. This Special Issue is devoted to the work of research teams who are seeking to develop effective, low-cost transferable and easily replicated biological and geo-ecological strategies for the regeneration of these challenging and dynamic lands. It is devoted to those who are conducting applied research to address the problems of mined lands, which include the problems caused by soil contamination and auto-contamination caused by mine-spoil weathering (including acid rock drainage), the control of surface and groundwater contamination, soil compaction and auto-compaction, erosion, unsuitable drainage and runoff, and revegetation and an impoverished micro-ecology that leads to soil infertility. This Special Issue is open to traditional case studies of biological ‘recultivation’ and bio-remediation, but, hopefully, it will also attract contributions that inspire one to go further to establish principles, practices, strategies and techniques that can be deployed more generally. It will also be open to those engaged in the chemical, biological and GIS-based monitoring of reclaimed land and those engaged in community and land-user education. 

Prof. Dr. Martin Haigh
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biological and biotechnical methods
  • Mine spoils and wastes
  • Reclamation and rehabilitation
  • Sustainability and self-sustainability
  • Land reclamation and land forming
  • Biological and ecological monitoring
  • Bioremediation and phytoremediation
  • Forest reclamation (recultivation)
  • GIS and remote sensing of mine waste dynamics
  • Post mining land management and user education
  • AMD and ARD mitigation and biomonitoring
  • Biological remediation of surface and groundwater runoff
  • Erosion control and sediment stabilisation
  • Inoculation and microbial ecology
  • Rewilding
  • Reclamation for agriculture, horticulture, and pastures or forests
  • Reclamation for urban and/or recreational land uses
  • Soil management and remediation
  • Soil amendment by fertilisers, composts, mulches or tillage practices
  • Soil, leachate, and runoff decontamination
  • Bioleaching
  • Biological soil erosion, sediment control and slope stabilization
  • Bioengineering stabilisation of slopes and water courses

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

26 pages, 2226 KiB  
Article
Reclaiming Open Coal Spoils by Mixed Woodland: Varteg (Wales), 10 Year Results
by Martin Haigh, Heather Reed, Margaret D’Aucourt, Chris Bull, Mike Cullis, Frances Farrugia, Allison Flege, Svetla Gentcheva-Kostadinova, Liz Hatton, Josef Křeček, Keith Plamping, Susan Powell, Willemina Panhuis, Ben Sansom, Sharon Sawyer, Gillian Wilding, Patricia Woodruffe and Elena Zheleva
Minerals 2021, 11(6), 624; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11060624 - 11 Jun 2021
Viewed by 1991
Abstract
Many reclaimed opencast coal-lands in Wales are now seriously degraded. This study explores the 10-year growth of native trees planted on compacted coal spoil. It compares the relative benefits of planting with spent mushroom compost (SMC) or well-rotted farmyard manure (FYM), both with [...] Read more.
Many reclaimed opencast coal-lands in Wales are now seriously degraded. This study explores the 10-year growth of native trees planted on compacted coal spoil. It compares the relative benefits of planting with spent mushroom compost (SMC) or well-rotted farmyard manure (FYM), both with and without supplementary fertilizer. Four main tree species—Common Alder, Oak, Scots Pine and Silver Birch—are considered. The survival of SMC-planted trees (77%) was significantly higher than for FYM-planted (72%). In Year 10, SMC-planted trees were significantly taller than those planted with FYM (4.75 vs. 4.57 m, respectively). Similarly, basal diameter (measured above the root collar) was larger among the SMC-planted trees. Discriminant analysis showed that the key discriminating variable between SMC-planted and FYM-planted trees was the type of fertilizer applied during planting. Adding slow-release fertilizer (SRF) and SRF plus superphosphate (SRF + P2O5) was beneficial to FYM-planted trees. Fertilizer supplements often favor the growth of FYM-planted trees in the early years, but later SMC-planted trees take the lead. The only species that benefited long term from FYM or fertilizer supplements was Alder. Overall, SMC-planted trees perform better than FYM-planted trees, but some of the difference can be mitigated by supplementary fertilization. Overall, SMC-planted trees perform better than FYM-planted trees. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Reclamation and Bio-Remediation of Former Mine Sites)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 2605 KiB  
Article
Bioleaching for the Removal of Arsenic from Mine Tailings by Psychrotolerant and Mesophilic Microbes at Markedly Continental Climate Temperatures
by Kuanysh N. Seitkamal, Nariman K. Zhappar, Valentin M. Shaikhutdinov, Aigerim K. Shibayeva, Sadia Ilyas, Ilya V. Korolkov and Hyunjung Kim
Minerals 2020, 10(11), 972; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10110972 - 31 Oct 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2155
Abstract
This study investigated the biological removal of heavy metals from mine tailings in Kazakhstan using acidophilic microorganism strains Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans 535 and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans 377. The experiments were conducted in shake flasks at pH 1.6, various temperatures (28 °C, 18 °C, and 8 [...] Read more.
This study investigated the biological removal of heavy metals from mine tailings in Kazakhstan using acidophilic microorganism strains Acidithiobacillus ferrivorans 535 and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans 377. The experiments were conducted in shake flasks at pH 1.6, various temperatures (28 °C, 18 °C, and 8 °C), and 10% solid concentration (w/v). The results of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses showed that arsenic was particularly efficiently removed at 28 °C. At this temperature, A. ferrooxidans 377 was more efficient at removal than the other strain. Meanwhile, A. ferrivorans 535 was more efficient than A. ferrooxidans 377 at 8 °C. One of the more significant findings to emerge from this study is that arsenic can be removed at a low temperature and high solid concentration. The results of this study support the idea that microorganisms can be used for removing arsenic via a combination of biooxidation and chemical methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Reclamation and Bio-Remediation of Former Mine Sites)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 2803 KiB  
Article
Effect of Fast-Growing Trees on Soil Properties and Carbon Storage in an Afforested Coal Mine Land (India)
by Jitendra Ahirwal, Adarsh Kumar and Subodh Kumar Maiti
Minerals 2020, 10(10), 840; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10100840 - 23 Sep 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3282
Abstract
Surface coal mining activities have numerous consequences on terrestrial ecosystems. Loss of soil and biomass carbon pool due to mining activities is a serious concern in the rapidly changing environment. We investigated the effect of fast-growing trees (Albizia lebbeck, Albizia procera, [...] Read more.
Surface coal mining activities have numerous consequences on terrestrial ecosystems. Loss of soil and biomass carbon pool due to mining activities is a serious concern in the rapidly changing environment. We investigated the effect of fast-growing trees (Albizia lebbeck, Albizia procera, and Dalbergia sissoo) on soil fertility and ecosystem carbon pool after eight years of afforestation in the post-mining land of Jharia coalfield, India, and compared with the adjacent natural forest site. Significant differences in soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks in afforested mine soil and natural forest soils were observed. Greater SOC stock was found under D. sissoo (30.17 Mg·C·ha−1) while total N stock was highest under A. lebbeck (4.16 Mg·N·ha−1) plantation. Plant biomass accumulated 85% of the natural forest carbon pool after eight years of afforestation. The study concluded that planting fast-growing trees in post-mining lands could produce a promising effect on mine soil fertility and greater carbon storage in a short period. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Reclamation and Bio-Remediation of Former Mine Sites)
►▼ Show Figures

Graphical abstract

19 pages, 2858 KiB  
Article
Aboveground and Belowground Colonization of Vegetation on a 17-Year-Old Cover with Capillary Barrier Effect Built on a Boreal Mine Tailings Storage Facility
by Alex Proteau, Marie Guittonny, Bruno Bussière and Abdelkabir Maqsoud
Minerals 2020, 10(8), 704; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10080704 - 08 Aug 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2481
Abstract
Acid mine drainage is an important environmental risk linked to the surface storage of reactive mine tailings. To manage this problem, a cover with a capillary barrier effect (CCBE) can be used. This oxygen barrier cover relies on maintaining a fine-grained material layer [...] Read more.
Acid mine drainage is an important environmental risk linked to the surface storage of reactive mine tailings. To manage this problem, a cover with a capillary barrier effect (CCBE) can be used. This oxygen barrier cover relies on maintaining a fine-grained material layer (moisture-retaining layer, MRL) with a high degree of saturation. CCBEs can be colonized by surrounding plants. Plant roots pump water and could impact CCBE’s performance. This performance is predicted with unsaturated water flow numerical models in which vegetation parameters can be included. Vegetation parameters may be specific in a CCBE environment. Therefore, analyzing and quantifying the vegetation that colonizes this type of cover is necessary. Plant colonization was investigated through cover and density surveys on 12 transects on a 17-year-old CCBE in the mixed forest of Quebec, Canada. Then, aboveground vegetation and root colonization intensity at three depths in the MRL were characterized on 25 plots of five dominant vegetation types (Salix, Populus, Alnus, Picea sp., and herbaceous species). The mean root length density under plots dominated by Salix sp. was higher than in the other plots. Root colonization of the MRL was concentrated in the first 10 cm and occurred under all woody and herbaceous species as well. This work quantitatively describes, for the first time, the vegetation colonizing a CCBE both at the above- and belowground levels. These data will be useful to better predict the long-term performance of this engineered reclamation cover. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Reclamation and Bio-Remediation of Former Mine Sites)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop