Seven years of research on reclamation using biosolids at Highland Valley Copper

British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium

Seven years of research on reclamation using biosolids at Highland Valley Copper Straker, Justin; Hamaguchi, Bob A.; Jones, Carol Elizabeth, 1953-; Freberg, Mark

Abstract

A research program was initiated at the Highland Valley Copper mine near Logan Lake, B.C. in 1996 to test application of de-watered sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants (biosolids) as a potential reclamation treatment and to assess environmental effects. Control treatments were included in the study design to compare biosolids application with standard reclamation treatments using annual application of chemical fertilizers during the first four to five years of vegetation establishment. The biosolids research program has included monitoring to assess changes to soil, soil water and vegetation chemistry, and effects on vegetation cover and biomass production on the treated sites. This paper presents the results to date, including findings on element mobility following biosolids application, and effects on vegetation chemistry and soil nutrient capital. The potential benefits and limitations of biosolids application in Highland Valley Copper's reclamation programs are summarized.

Item Metadata

Title	Seven years of research on reclamation using biosolids at Highland Valley Copper
Creator	Straker, Justin; Hamaguchi, Bob A.; Jones, Carol Elizabeth, 1953-; Freberg, Mark
Contributor	British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium; University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering
Date Issued	2003
Description	A research program was initiated at the Highland Valley Copper mine near Logan Lake, B.C. in 1996 to test application of de-watered sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants (biosolids) as a potential reclamation treatment and to assess environmental effects. Control treatments were included in the study design to compare biosolids application with standard reclamation treatments using annual application of chemical fertilizers during the first four to five years of vegetation establishment. The biosolids research program has included monitoring to assess changes to soil, soil water and vegetation chemistry, and effects on vegetation cover and biomass production on the treated sites. This paper presents the results to date, including findings on element mobility following biosolids application, and effects on vegetation chemistry and soil nutrient capital. The potential benefits and limitations of biosolids application in Highland Valley Copper's reclamation programs are summarized.
Extent	1913903 bytes
Genre	Conference Paper
Type	Text
File Format	application/pdf
Language	eng
Date Available	2009-06-11
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI	10.14288/1.0042441
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/9012
Affiliation	Non UBC
Peer Review Status	Unreviewed
Scholarly Level	Other
Copyright Holder	British Columbia Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation
Rights URI	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository	DSpace

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