The potential for the use of pulp and paper sludge in mine site rehabilitation

摘要

Environmental and land rehabilitation is the process of returning the land that has been affected or damage by mining to some degree of its former state. Mine site rehabilitation aims to minimize and mitigate the environment effects of mining. Pulp and paper sludge contains common components of plant material as well as minerals employed in paper making. It presents stable content, odorless, harmless to human, and plant or animal life land restoration and land spreading recognizes sludge recovery potential. Opportunity exists to utilize organic material in rehabilitation of mine sites where soil is low in organic matter and thereby improving the prospect of re-vegetation. The paper discuss about a project undertaken at Loy Yong open pit coal mine in Australia where overburden soil is nutrient poor, and often limits revegitation. It investigates the proposition that pulp and paper can be used as a clean and productive soil conditioner for mine rehabilitation much like a fertilizer. The study comprises of two phases- field testing and trial plantation using different mixture of paper and pulp and overburden soil. The results showed that the paper pulp has the potential to enhance the qualities of mine overburden, and all primary, secondary nutrients required by plants for growth on overburden have been improved. It is suggested that the paper and pulp at different proportion can be used in other mine rehabilitation.