Field Scale Assessment of Artificial Topsoil: A Victorian Coal Mine Experience

Birjak, Anna; Walmsley, Alena; Anderson, Nicole; Missen, Jon; Yellishetty, Mohan

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-33954-8_45

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…To manage the heightened risk of erosion, slope instability and fire, progressive rehabilitation of mine batters is a common procedure in the Latrobe Valley brown coal mines (Birjak et al 2019;Yellishetty et al 2014). This process involves reshaping and capping the batters with clay overburden, covering them with a growth medium (traditionally topsoil) and establishing plant growth by the application of a pasture seed mix plus fertiliser in order to stabilise the capping material and prevent exposure of overburden through erosion (Birjak et al 2019). The short supply of topsoil in the Latrobe Valley coal mines poses a limiting factor in mine rehabilitation efforts, creating difficulties in achieving post-mining land use objectives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From spoil to soil: utilising waste materials to create soils for mine rehabilitation

Walmsley¹,

Mundodi²,

Sederkenny³

et al. 2022

Mine Closure 2022: 15th Conference on Mine Closure

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Latrobe Valley in Victoria, southeast Australia, is home to three large open-cast brown coal mines. Due to the nature of the mining operations, there is a lack of topsoil to cover the whole area that is to be progressively rehabilitated. This has led to the development of technosols, employing the ideas of the circular economy by using waste products from three industries located in the Latrobe Valley: mining and energy production (overburden, subsoil, topsoil, waste brown coal and fly ash from the powerplant), paper milling and recycling (effluent sewage recovery and recycling waste) and municipal green waste collection (compost). These waste products have been mixed at different ratios and tested in laboratory, greenhouse and field conditions to establish the best type of technosol that is safe for the environment and can turn into a productive soil in the long-term. If proven suitable, this new concept will not only aid in rehabilitation of large post-mining areas but also help in waste reduction. In a greenhouse study, we tested plant germination and growth in seven different mixtures. Although grass germination was highest in natural topsoil, both grass and clover biomass and leaf length were generally higher in technosols than in topsoil. Also, the plant tissue nutrient levels were similar or higher in technosols than in topsoil. Four out of seven technosols were then transferred into a field trial. Preliminary results from the trial have shown that plant biomass in three out of four technosols is greater than in natural topsoil. Further monitoring of soil properties is being undertaken to assess long-term performance of these soils.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%