Research Projects

Mining industries are crucial for infrastructure and energy, but they often face negative environmental impacts such as land degradation, water pollution, and heavy metal pollution. The National Research Council estimates that by 2030, up to 70 billion tonnes of material may be unearthed. Mining activity leads to the removal of natural vegetation and soils, resulting in barren land with barren soils. Tailings containing toxic elements and metalloids leach into aquatic ecosystems, leading to acid mine drainage. These contaminants are absorbed by living organisms and transported to water bodies. Effective re-vegetation is essential to reclaim degraded mine areas. However, contaminated sites with high heavy metal loads pose challenges for vegetation due to acidic pH, low organic matter and nutrients, degraded pedological structure, and low water availability. This proposal aims to provide an environmentally sustainable and economically viable remediation technique using biochar to promote effective restoration of mine contaminated sites. The proposal will investigate the synergistic effect of biochar and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in enhancing the carbon content of mine soils and improving enzyme activities, which are vital parameters in promoting plant growth and establishing vegetative cover for mine soil restoration.