Phytostabilization of mine tailings in arid and semiarid environments--an emerging remediation technology.

TLDR: Phytostabilization of mine tailing is a promising remedial technology but requires further research to identify factors affecting its long-term success by expanding knowledge of suitable plant species and mine tailings chemistry in ongoing field trials.

Abstract: Mine tailings disposal sites from either inactive or abandoned mine sites are prevalent in arid and semiarid regions throughout the world. Major areas include northern Mexico and the Western United States, the Pacific coast of South America (Chile and Peru), southwestern Spain, western India, South Africa, and Australia (Munshower 1994; Tordoff et al. 2000). The global impact of such mine tailings disposal sites is enormous, as unreclaimed mining sites generally remain unvegetated for tens to hundreds of years, and exposed tailings can spread over tens of hectares via eolian dispersion and water erosion [Gonzalez and Gonzalez-Chavez 2006; Morris et al. 2003; Munshower 1994; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) 2004; Warhurst 2000]. Mine tailings, or mill tailings, are the materials remaining after extraction and beneficiation of ores. What prevents the natural revegetation of mine tailings? It is generally a combination of factors beginning with metal toxicity. Tailings are characterized by elevated concentrations of metals such as arsenic, cadmium, copper, manganese, lead, and zinc (1–50 g/kg) (Boulet and Larocque 1998; Bradshaw et al. 1978; Walder and Chavez 1995). Further, tailings contain no organic matter or macronutrients, and usually exhibit acidic pH, although some tailings may be alkaline (Johnson and Bradshaw 1977; Krzaklewski and Pietrzykowski 2002). For these reasons, tailings remain without normal soil structure and support a severely stressed heterotrophic microbial community (Mendez et al. 2007; Southam and Beveridge 1992). Hence, the microbial community is extremely low in species richness and carbon utilization diversity compared with uncontaminated soil (Moynahan et al. 2002). Furthermore, autotrophic iron- and sulfur-oxidizing bacteria dominate the microbial community in mine tailings and are associated with plant death in acidic tailings (Schippers et al. 2000). In arid and semiarid regions, plant establishment on mine tailings is further impeded by a number of physicochemical factors including extreme temperatures especially at the tailings surface, low precipitation, and high winds. These factors contribute to the development of extremely high salt concentrations ranging up to 22 dS/m due to high evaporation and low water infiltration (Munshower 1994).