Rock dust from mine waste as a natural media amendment in forest reclamation and the production of high value agronomic and horticultural crops

Anaconda Mining Inc是该应用程序的行业合作伙伴。他们每年生产约40万吨RD作为贵金属（黄金）开采的废弃副产品，并具有独特的潜在商业用途。初步调查确定的岩石粉尘（RD）废物材料的化学成分是在蔬菜作物种植的可接受的限度内，拟议的研究旨在评估的潜在的RD产生的贵金属采矿废物产品作为一个合适的天然介质修正的森林开垦和农业作物生产。此外，在Industry partners的黄金加工业务中，木屑生物质被成功地用于氨的回收。这项工作还建议评估木屑生物质作为受控环境条件下作物生长的有用氮源的潜力。 该项目的第一阶段将涉及对RD进行全面的化学分析，以确定作物生长的污染物和矿物质营养成分。在第二阶段，我们将使用RD的化学成分配制不同的土壤或培养基混合物与RD，以评估在田间和温室条件下是否适合作物生产。在第三阶段，我们将寻求确定资源开采后北方森林复垦的RD潜力。在最后阶段，我们建议开发一种RD或木屑生物质基培养基，作为受控环境作物生产的概念证明。 拟议的研究是一个多学科的应用研究项目，将是互惠互利的学术和工业合作伙伴。从这项研究中产生的输出将有助于更好地了解RD废料和富氮木屑生物质的质量，田间和温室作物生产/森林开垦的适用性，与RD在作物生物强化中的作用相关的机制，以及研究生的HQP培训机会。行业合作伙伴将利用这些结果来创造商业机会，或利用这些废物作为公司的新收入来源。此外，使用RD或木屑生物质作为天然介质改良剂将为NL增加粮食产量提供机会，并可能成为缓解该省粮食安全当前挑战的长期战略的一部分。

Anaconda Mining Inc is the industry partner in this application. They produce approximately 400,000 tonnes of RD annually as a waste byproduct from precious metal (gold) mining, and have unique volume of this material for potential commercial use. Preliminary investigations determined the chemical composition of the rock dust (RD) waste material is within acceptable limits for vegetable crop cultivation.The proposed study seek to evaluate the potential of RD generated as a waste product of precious metal mining as a suitable natural media amendment for forest reclamation and agriculture crop production. Furthermore, wood chip biomass is used successfully to scavenge ammonia following gold processing at the Industry partners operation. This work proposed to also evaluate the potential of the wood chip biomass as a useful source of nitrogen for crop growth under controlled environmental conditions. The first stage of this project will involve a comprehensive chemical analysis of the RD to determine contaminants and mineral nutrient composition for crop growth. In the second stage, we will use the RD chemical composition to formulate different combinations of soil or media mixes with RD to evaluate suitability for crop production under field and greenhouse conditions. In the third stage, we will seek to determine the potential of RD for boreal forest reclamation after resource mining. In the final stage, we proposed to develop a RD or wood chip biomass based media as a proof of concept for controlled environment crop production. The proposed study is a multidisciplinary applied research project that will be of mutual benefits to the academic and industry partners. Outputs generated from this study will contribute to better understanding of the quality of the RD waste material and nitrogen enriched wood chip biomass, suitability for field and greenhouse crop production/forest reclamation, mechanisms associated with RD role in crop biofortification, as well as HQP training opportunities for graduate students. The industry partner will use these results to generate commercial opportunities or use of this waste products as a new revenue stream for the company. Furthermore, the use of RD or wood chip biomass as a natural media amendment will provide opportunities for increase food production in NL and could be part of a long term strategy to mitigate current challenges with food security in the Province.