Use of fertilizers in mine reclamation

Indus­tri­al activ­i­ties such as min­er­al extrac­tion can lead to the cre­ation of dis­turbed lands which pose a chal­lenge to nat­ur­al ecosys­tems. To reduce the neg­a­tive envi­ron­men­tal impact of min­ing and restore the nat­ur­al bal­ance, the process of recla­ma­tion is car­ried out, which includes the restora­tion of soil fer­til­i­ty and reha­bil­i­ta­tion of plant cov­er. One of the key aspects of suc­cess­ful recla­ma­tion is the use of fer­til­iz­ers that pro­vide essen­tial nutri­ents and improve soil qual­i­ty. In this arti­cle we will review the fer­til­iz­ers used in the recla­ma­tion of deplet­ed deposits and their role in the process of restora­tion of nat­ur­al ecosys­tems.

 

Organic fertilizers

Organ­ic fer­til­iz­ers are nat­ur­al mate­ri­als that con­tain organ­ic sub­stances and nutri­ents. Their use helps to improve the struc­ture of the soil, increase the con­tent of organ­ic mat­ter and pro­mote plant growth. Dif­fer­ent types of organ­ic fer­til­iz­ers are used for recla­ma­tion of deplet­ed deposits:

• Com­post is an organ­ic fer­til­iz­er obtained as a result of par­tial decom­po­si­tion of the organ­ic mate­r­i­al such as plant remains and food scraps. Com­post con­tains a large amount of nutri­ents that increase soil fer­til­i­ty and its water hold­ing capac­i­ty.
• Manure is an organ­ic fer­til­iz­er that con­sists of plant remains and ani­mal waste. It con­tains a lot of nitro­gen, phos­pho­rus, potas­si­um, and oth­er nutri­ents that help restore soil fer­til­i­ty.
• Humus is the result of late-stage decom­po­si­tion of organ­ic mat­ter. It con­tains a lot of nutri­ents that con­tribute top the restora­tion of the bio­log­i­cal bal­ance in the soil.

Mineral fertilizers

Min­er­al fer­til­iz­ers are com­prised of chem­i­cal com­pounds that con­tain nutri­ents such as nitro­gen, phos­pho­rus, potas­si­um and trace ele­ments. They are used to quick­ly and effec­tive­ly pro­vide plants with nec­es­sary nutri­ents. Min­er­al fer­til­iz­ers are often used in recla­ma­tion of deposits to restore nutri­ents in degrad­ed soil and pro­mote rapid plant growth. Among min­er­al fer­til­iz­ers are:

• Nitro­gen fertilizers.Nitrogen is one of the key ele­ments that pro­motes the growth of the green mass of plants.Nitrogen fer­til­iz­ers help restore deplet­ed deposits cov­ered with regen­er­a­tive veg­e­ta­tion.
• Phos­pho­rous fertilizers.Phosphorus is nec­es­sary for the devel­op­ment of the root sys­tem of plants, so phos­pho­rus fer­til­iz­ers help restore soil dam­aged by min­ing or oil extrac­tion oper­a­tions.
• Potas­si­um fertilizers.Potassium is an impor­tant ele­ment for plant devel­op­ment, espe­cial­ly for increas­ing resis­tance to stress con­di­tions such as droughts or resid­ual pol­lu­tion in deplet­ed deposits.The use of potas­si­um fer­til­iz­ers helps to improve the abil­i­ty of plants to store water and reg­u­late the water bal­ance.
• Trace elements.Among the main nutri­ents nec­es­sary for plants, there are also a num­ber of trace ele­ments that per­form impor­tant func­tions in the bio­log­i­cal process­es of plants.These trace ele­ments include cop­per, zinc, iron, man­ganese, molyb­de­num, boron etc.Their use in recla­ma­tion helps restore soil fer­til­i­ty and ensure healthy plant growth.

 

Plant growth promoting microbes (PGPM)

Some types of recla­ma­tion activ­i­ties uti­lize liv­ing bac­te­ria or fun­gi which

con­tribute to the decom­po­si­tion of organ­ic sub­stances and increase soil fer­til­i­ty. In recent decades PGPMs have become an impor­tant tool in the recla­ma­tion of deplet­ed deposits, as they help to restore the nat­ur­al bal­ance and improve soil qual­i­ty with­out the use of chem­i­cal com­pounds. PGPMs are liv­ing microor­gan­isms such as bac­te­ria and fun­gi that have a pos­i­tive impact on ecosys­tems, con­tribut­ing to the restora­tion of nat­ur­al bio­log­i­cal process­es. Let’s take a look at how PGPMs help in deposit recla­ma­tion and what ben­e­fits they present.

The role of PGPMs in deplet­ed deposit recla­ma­tion:

• One of the most impor­tant tasks of PGPMs is the decom­po­si­tion of organ­ic mate­r­i­al such as plant remains, dead root sys­tems etc. This process plays an impor­tant role in restor­ing soil fer­til­i­ty.
• Many PGPMs con­tain microor­gan­isms that are capa­ble of nitro­gen fix­a­tion which results in the cre­ation of nutri­ents such as ammo­nia and nitrates.
• Some PGPMs can stim­u­late the devel­op­ment of the root sys­tem of plants, pro­vid­ing bet­ter access to water and nutri­ents in the soil, thus increas­ing the plants resis­tance to stress­ful con­di­tions such as droughts.
• Some PGPMs have antag­o­nis­tic prop­er­ties which allow their use as a pes­ti­cide.

Among the wide array of PGPMs, the most pop­u­lar are:

• PGPMs based on bac­te­ria (rhi­zos­phere bac­te­ria, nitro­gen-fix­ing bac­te­ria, etc.) that increase soil fer­til­i­ty and pro­vide plants with nec­es­sary nutri­ents.
• Myc­or­rhizal fun­gi that form a sym­bi­ot­ic asso­ci­a­tion with plants, increas­ing the plants intake of water and nutrients.They also help plants become more resis­tant to stress­ful con­di­tions.
• Endo­phytes, microor­gan­isms that live with­in a plant with­out caus­ing harm. They can pro­vide plants with addi­tion­al nutri­ents and increased resis­tance to dis­ease and stress­ful con­di­tions.

Fertilizer application

The use of fer­til­iz­ers in the recla­ma­tion of deplet­ed deposits should be car­ried out with con­sid­er­a­tion of local con­di­tions of a spe­cif­ic ter­ri­to­ry, the needs of rein­tro­duced plants and the eco­log­ic fea­tures of dis­turbed land. Fer­til­iz­ers can be applied before or after plant­i­ng, depend­ing on the needs of spe­cif­ic plants. Use of fer­til­iz­ers must be con­trolled, as exceed­ing rec­om­mend­ed dos­es can lead to neg­a­tive con­se­quences, such as con­t­a­m­i­na­tion of water sources or unwant­ed changes in soil chem­i­cal com­po­si­tion.

The main require­ments for the trans­porta­tion, stor­age, appli­ca­tion and dis­pos­al of fer­til­iz­ers are estab­lished by the Law of Ukraine “On Pes­ti­cides and Agro­chem­i­cals”. The main ways to pre­vent poi­son­ing by min­er­al fer­til­iz­ers are the fol­low­ing:

• Com­pli­ance with labor pro­tec­tion norms, rules and min­er­al fer­til­iz­er han­dling instruc­tions
• Use of col­lec­tive and per­son­al pro­tec­tive equip­ment; strict com­pli­ance with the estab­lished fre­quen­cy of crop treat­ments and appli­ca­tion rates.
• Main­tain­ing a suf­fi­cient dis­tance between the areas of fer­til­iz­er appli­ca­tion and near­est set­tle­ments, live­stock farms and water bod­ies; apply­ing fer­til­iz­ers while weath­er con­di­tions are appro­pri­ate.
• Use of stud­ied and approved fer­til­iz­ers.

Some other features of depleted deposit reclamation

In addi­tion to the appli­ca­tion of fer­til­iz­ers, recla­ma­tion of deplet­ed deposits also includes a num­ber of com­plex mea­sures. First of all, pre­ven­tion of ero­sion and improve­ment of soil’s water hold­ing capac­i­ty must be achieved. It can be done by ter­rac­ing the slopes of dis­turbed lands and con­struct­ing water reser­voirs, in addi­tion to plant­i­ng regen­er­a­tive plants that ensure bio­di­ver­si­ty and cre­ate favor­able con­di­tions for the return of wild ani­mals.

Recla­ma­tion of deplet­ed deposits is an impor­tant aspect of restor­ing nat­ur­al ecosys­tems dam­aged by indus­tri­al activ­i­ty. The use of fer­til­iz­ers in the recla­ma­tion process helps restore soil fer­til­i­ty, improve con­di­tions for plant growth and cre­ate favor­able con­di­tions for the restora­tion of nat­ur­al bio­di­ver­si­ty. How­ev­er, the suc­cess of a recla­ma­tion effort depends on an inte­grat­ed approach, the coop­er­a­tion of involved par­ties and com­pli­ance with envi­ron­men­tal stan­dards. By ensur­ing effec­tive recla­ma­tion, we will be able to suc­cess­ful­ly restore dis­turbed lands and pre­serve nature for future gen­er­a­tions.