Investigating the role of Spanish River Carbonatite in soil fertility

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Boreal Agrominerals Inc. owns a large carbonatite deposit in northern Ontario (near Spanish). The company sells a product called Spanish River Carbonatite (SRC). It is used by organic farmers as a soil amendment and there is much interest in also using it to remediate mine tailings. Since SRC is primarily composed of calcium carbonate, increases in pH are one of its main effects. However, there is some evidence that other factors provide SCR with an enhanced ability to benefit plant nutrition relative to lime. However, to be successful, the company needs to demonstrate that SRC works by showing how it works. Even though SRC contains low amounts of plant available nitrogen and phosphorus, a wide diversity of healthy looking plants cover the SRC deposit. This project will determine the plant communities that naturally occur in the SCR deposit. In addition, we will determine the nutrient status of these plants and whether they may be accessing nutrients through associations with soil microbes. It is expected that this research will lead to additional research on understanding how SRC can best benefit plants when used as an amendment either for remediation or farming.