Stockpiling of Coal Mine Soils
Physical, chemical and microbiological analysis of 257 unmined, stockpile and rehabilitated soil samples from four Witbank opencast mines, plus a pot trial on amendments, for soil handling planning.
by Dr Garry Paterson | June 2016
Stockpiling degraded every soil property measured across four Witbank area mines. Clay content of topsoil and subsoil rose by 50 to 60 per cent, surface bulk density increased from stockpiling through to rehabilitation, and effective depth on rehabilitated areas was under 17 cm in most cases. Topsoil organic carbon fell by almost half and microbial species numbers dropped in the stockpiles.
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