Blended municipal compost and biosolids materials for mine reclamation: Long-term field studies to explore metal mobility, soil fertility and microbial communities

Asemaninejad, Asma; Langley, Sean; MacKinnon, Ted; Spiers, Graeme; Beckett, Peter; Mykytczuk, Nadia; Basiliko, Nathan

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143393

Cited by 20 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Numerous studies have investigated the addition of organics including compost, biosolids, and organic-rich sludge to tailings for the purpose of mine reclamation, technosol formation, phytostabilization, and rehabilitation. − The addition of organics to mine tailings has also been shown to induce biogeochemical processes such as sulfate reduction, which can immobilize elements of concern (e.g., As) through the precipitation of sulfide minerals . In this study, coupling organic and inorganic carbon cycling dramatically accelerated brucite carbonation, which is often limited by CO 2 supply.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Carbonation, Cementation, and Stabilization of Ultramafic Mine Tailings

Power

Paulo

Long

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Tailings dam failures can cause devastation to the environment, loss of human life, and require expensive remediation. A promising approach for de-risking brucite-bearing ultramafic tailings is in situ cementation via carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) mineralization, which also sequesters this greenhouse gas within carbonate minerals. In cylindrical test experiments, brucite [Mg(OH) 2 ] carbonation was accelerated by coupling organic and inorganic carbon cycling. Waste organics generated CO 2 concentrations similar to that of flue gas (up to 19%). The abundance of brucite (2−10 wt %) had the greatest influence on tailings cementation as evidenced by the increase in total inorganic carbon (TIC; +0.17−0.84%). Brucite consumption ranged from 64−84% of its initial abundance and was mainly influenced by water availability. Higher moisture contents (e.g., 80% saturation) and finer grain sizes (e.g., clay-silt) that allowed for a better distribution of water resulted in greater brucite carbonation. Furthermore, pore clogging and surface passivation by Mg-carbonates may have slowed brucite carbonation over the 10 weeks. Unconfined compressive strengths ranged from 0.4−6.9 MPa and would be sufficient in most scenarios to adequately stabilize tailings. Our study demonstrates the potential for stabilizing brucite-bearing mine tailings through in situ cementation while sequestering CO 2 .

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Carbonation, Cementation, and Stabilization of Ultramafic Mine Tailings

Power

Paulo

Long

et al. 2021

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…Assessing the degree of contamination of an environment and the mobility patterns of toxic elements present is vital to establish the risks of dispersion of contaminants through the ecosystem and, when these risks are known, to allow sludge slope stabilization or soil remediation and encapsulation to be undertaken [ 45 , 46 ]. This study refers to various techniques are referred: (i) the formation of a hardpan to facilitate both geochemical reactions and the precipitation of secondary minerals to increase the physical and chemical stability of the sludge [ 47 , 48 ]; (ii) revegetation to reduce water and wind erosion and physically stabilize the sludge [ 49 ]; (iii) the application of carbonation and cementation techniques to achieve the physical stabilization and immobilization of released metals [ 50 , 51 , 52 ] and (iv) the addition of organics, including biochar, compost, biosolids, and organic-rich sludge, to achieve phytostabilization and remediation through the formation of technosoils [ 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of Ecosystem Services in Abandoned Mining Areas in the Iberian Peninsula: Management Proposal

González-Morales

Rodríguez-González

Fernández‐Pozo

2023

Toxics

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An abandoned sphalerite mining area in the southwest (SW) of the Iberian Peninsula was studied to evaluate the impact that the presence of metal(loid)s has on soil and ecosystem health. Five zones were delimited: sludge, dump, scrubland, riparian zone, and dehesa. Critical total levels of lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), thallium (Tl), and chromium (Cr), well above the limit indicative of toxicity problems, were found in the areas close to the sources of contamination. Pb-Zn concentrations were very high in the riparian zone, reaching values of 5875 mg/kg Pb and 4570 mg/kg Zn. The whole area is classifiable as extremely contaminated with Tl, with concentrations above 370 mg/kg in the scrubland. Cr accumulation mainly occurred in areas away from the dump, with levels up to 240 mg/kg in the dehesa. In the study area, several plants were found growing luxuriantly despite the contamination. The measured metal(loid)s content is the cause of a significant decrease in ecosystem services, resulting in unsafe soils for food and water production, so the implementation of a decontamination program is advisable. The plant species Retama sphaerocarpa, present in the sludge, scrubland, riparian zone, and dehesa, is postulated as suitable for use in phytoremediation.

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“…Reclaiming contaminated soil through plants is a practice that intends to improve the quality of both the soil and the plant cover, which may mitigate the harmful effects of pollutants, by reducing their mobility and bioavailability or by improving their degradation (Nejad et al, 2017;Wyszkowska et al, 2019;Xie andVan Zyl, 2020: Rai et al, 2021). Furthermore, the use of industrial or urban organic wastes as soil conditioners is considered one of the most effective and inexpensive operations to improve biochemical properties of soils contaminated by trace metals (Burgos et al, 2010;Asemaninejad et al, 2021). Therefore, knowing whether the application of both ameliorating strategies produces an increase of VOCs emissions to the atmosphere is essential in order to avoid possible environmental problems in the future.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric emissions of volatile organic compounds from a mine soil treated with sewage sludge and tomato plants (Lycopersicum esculentum L.)

Fernández-Espinosa

Peña-Heras

Oliva

2022

Preprint

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Aims. The study investigated the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from a mining soil amended with sewage sludge and irrigated with wastewater with or without tomato plants. The aim is to find out whether amendment and irrigation change VOC emissions from the soil and whether tomato changes emissions compared to uncultivated soil.Methods. Soil and plant experiments were done in assembled pots. All pots were placed inside a closed glass chamber inside an isolated and windowless room. Experiments with soil without plants were done independently from experiments with soil and plants. An aspirating pump coupled with Tenax adsorbent tubes was used for sampling of VOCs emitted from pots. Volatile organic compounds trapped in the tubes were quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detection.Results. The study detected a total of nine VOCs emitted from the polluted soil: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, p-xylene, m-xylene, o-xylene, styrene, benzene-1,2,4-trimethyl and tetrachloroethylene, among which the most abundant were toluene, m-xylene and styrene. Differences between pots with or without amendments (C and A pots) showed a general tendency to a decline of VOCs emissions in the mining soil amended with sewage sludge. Plants contributed to increase significantly the emissions of all VOCs in both A and C- pots.Conclusion. The soil amended with sewage sludge reduced the emission of VOCs: styrene in pots without plants and benzene and xylenes in pots with plants. Tomato plants contributed to increase significantly the emissions of all VOCs except styrene in both amended and non-amended soils.

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Blended municipal compost and biosolids materials for mine reclamation: Long-term field studies to explore metal mobility, soil fertility and microbial communities

Cited by 20 publications

References 70 publications

Carbonation, Cementation, and Stabilization of Ultramafic Mine Tailings

Carbonation, Cementation, and Stabilization of Ultramafic Mine Tailings

Status of Ecosystem Services in Abandoned Mining Areas in the Iberian Peninsula: Management Proposal

Atmospheric emissions of volatile organic compounds from a mine soil treated with sewage sludge and tomato plants (Lycopersicum esculentum L.)

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