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Carbon sink potential of biosolid reclaimed mine tailings

British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium; University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering

Surface mining can decrease carbon (C) but reclamation can improve soil quality and promote plant growth while restoring the terrestrial C sink. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of biosolids on the C storage capacity of mine tailings over time. Changes in C, nitrogen (N) and plant production over a 13 year period at a deactivated tailings site at Highland Valley Copper mine situated in interior British Columbia, were evaluated. Soil and biomass samples were taken in 2011 and compared to data from a study originally established in 1998. A randomized block design was used and the treatments included a control (no biosolids) and biosolids at application rates of 150 and 250 Mg ha⁻¹. Data was compiled in a chronosequence (representing years 0, 1, 2, and 13 years of reclamation) and analyzed. Biosolids increased total C, N and plant biomass while lowering the C:N ratio. Tailings C concentrations ranged from 1.4% for the control up to 17.2% for the 250 Mg ha⁻¹ treatment. Depending on the biosolid application rate, tailings sequestered up to 14 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ during the 13 years of reclamation. The results show that the use of biosolids during reclamation can improve the C sequestering capacity of mine tailings, which is beneficial to the restoration of the terrestrial C sink and the global C cycle.

Conference Paper

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0042619

Non UBC

Other

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/