THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY MISHEL VALERY VALIÑA RAÑADA TOPIC TITLE: “REHABILITATION POTENTIAL OF COARSE REJECTS FROM IRON ORE MINING AMENDED BY DIFFERENT LEVELS OF FERTILISER AS A SUBSTRATE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND GROWTH OF THE NATIVE PLANT SPECIES IN PILBARA REGION, WESTERN AUSTRALIA” BACHELOR THESIS Study Mode: Full-time Major: Environmental Science and Management Faculty: International Programs Office Batch: K45-AEP Thai Nguyen, 20/11/2017 c Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Degree Program Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management Student Name Mishel Valery Valiña Rañada Student ID DTN1454290046 Research Title “Rehabilitation potential of Coarse Rejects from Iron Ore Mining amended by Different Levels of Fertiliser as a Substrate for the Establishment and Growth of the Native Plant Species in Pilbara Region, Western Australia” Supervisors Dr. Eddie van Etten and MSc. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong As the degraded land expands along with the developments of mining industry, rehabilitation becomes a global priority. As a top producer of iron ore in Australia, the Pilbara region of Western Australia is now facing major problems such as the accumulation of mine wastes including coarse rejects and the limiting source of topsoil which is crucial in mine rehabilitation.
There are studies and rehabilitation strategies that utilized several mine wastes including tailings, overburden and waste rocks. However, the potential of iron ore mining “coarse rejects” on the rehabilitation of mine sites and revegetation of native plant species has rarely been investigated. The insufficient studies regarding this potential, constrained the mining companies to reuse the increasing piles of coarse rejects as a substitute to the declining source of topsoil. Consequently, this study aims to compare the seed germination, growth performances and survivorship of the three native plant species of Pilbara region in Western Australia namely, Eucalyptus leucophloia, Triodia pungens and Acacia tumida.
Coarse rejects were confirmed to have the potential to act as a substrate for the revegetation of Pilbara plants. Coarse rejects ii c substrates promoted the greatest seed germination for all the species. However, the study revealed that a sufficient amount of 5g fertiliser was essential to sustain the nutrients needed by the growing plants. This maximized the growth performances of all the native plant species in terms of leaf number, plant height and plant dry weight (biomass).
Conversely, medium (15g) and high (45g) levels of fertiliser amendment caused detrimental effects to the plants. The height and dry weight responses of E. pungens species were statistically proven to be significantly affected by different levels of fertiliser. On the other hand, there was no significant evidence that the growth performance of T.
pungens was affected by different levels of fertiliser. Keywords: coarse reject, rehabilitation, revegetation, mine waste, iron ore mining, waste rock Number of pages 63 pages Date of November 20, 2017 Submission iii c ACKNOWLEGEMENT “I’ve been there with God, I’ve done that through God” - MVVR I owe my deepest gratitude to my ever-supportive parents, “Mama” Valery and “Dadi” Misael, and loving sisters, Marize and Mabeth. I wouldn’t be able to achieve this success without your love and guidance. Thank you for always believing that “I can” especially in times that I doubt myself.
This study wouldn’t be successful without the supervision of Dr. Eddie van Etten who guided me all throughout the research study. Your efforts to help me obtain a successful research outcome are undeniably priceless. Likewise, I’m truly grateful to Ms.
Nguyen Thi Thu Huong who undoubtedly helped and supported me all the way through this research study despite of her busy schedule. Your words of encouragement never failed to inspire me during the stressful days of my research study. I would also like to extend my sincere appreciation to Edith Cowan University for welcoming us warmly, especially to Dr. Blake who even allotted his time to introduce some of the breathtaking places of Western Australia.
It is also a pleasure to thank the mining company who financially supported the expenses of this research experiment. My stay in Australia was made extra special because of the wonderful people who I’ve met and become my second family. Words can’t express how thankful I am and my whole family to Wong’s family (Chee, Mum Natalie, Hui Lee, Isabel, Joshua and Caitlyn), Saints family, Catherine, Sendy and Bestie Sheila not just for literally “walking” with me around Perth but also for “walking” with me in God’s path. Thanks for the memorable journey that I’ll surely treasure for a lifetime.
To Tito Jomar, Tita Janet, Ate Jen, Kuya Jean Marc, Ate Jona, Ate Noemi, Kuya John and Sammy, thank you very much for allowing me to experience what it’s like to be in the “most livable city in the world”. I enjoyed every single hour of stay with you, guys! You all made my stay in Australia even special. A very special thanks to Ninang Isca, Tita Beth, Tito Mike and other relatives who had provided things for the success of my internship and had encouraged me on pursuing my dreams. I’m more than blessed to have you all as a family.
I’m also indebted to my twin sister “by heart”, An-ne, who’ve been my “partner-in-crime” for 3 years now; 3 countries down, 192 to go! iv c To the Advanced Education Program of Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry and the University of California, Davis, thank you for giving me an opportunity to develop myself and enhance my knowledge and skills through this exchange student program. I will forever cherish the memories and friendship built within the 4-year University experience here in Vietnam, which are made unforgettable by the awesome people who surrounded me with positive thoughts; shoutout to Jean, Katleen, Erika, Carlo, Mommy Shelah, 302 Ates, pinoy k45 and k45 class! Like any other success story, I also encountered tons of trials along the way. I wouldn’t be able to face it with courage without the “slapping words of wisdom” of my best friend, Kate. Thank you for always enlightening my blurry mind.
I love you to the moon and back. And to the person who brought up uncountable challenges to my life that made me even stronger to face the everyday reality, thank you, Kenneth, for being my partner, brother, best friend, P. and #3 fan (next to God and my family) who keeps on pushing me to my limits, so I can always show the best version of me. Above all, I dedicate these achievements to God, my Almighty Father.
All of these wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for His unconditional love, amazing grace and overwhelming blessings. The Researcher, Mishel Valery V. Rañada v c TABLE OF CONTENT List of Figures. 1 List of Tables.1 Iron Ore Mining Industry in Pilbara, Western Australia .2 Mining Rehabilitation in Pilbara, Western Australia .3 Rehabilitation Potential of Coarse Rejects.4 Fertiliser Amendments on Mine Wastes .5 Revegetation of Native Plant Species .1 Pre- treatment and preparation of seeds: .2 Substrates and fertiliser preparation: .4 Data recording and experimental pot labelling.1 Time and Place of Study .1 Seed Germination Rate .2 Number of Leaves .3 Height of Plant .6 Chemical Analysis of Substrates.
64 vii c List of Figures Figure 1. Actual Experimental Layout. The graph of seed germination rate of Eucalyptus leucophloia (Species 1), Triodia pungens (Species 2) and Acacia tumida (Species 3). Weekly data for Eucalyptus leucophloia species' number of leaves.
Weekly data for Triodia pungens species' number of leaves. Weekly data for Acacia tumida species' number of leaves. The graph of the mean height of Eucalyptus leucophloia (Species 1), Triodia pungens (Species 2) and Acacia tumida (Species 3). Weekly data of Eucapyltus leucophloia species' mean plant height.
Weekly data of Triodia pungens species' mean plant height. Weekly data of Acacia tumida species' mean plant height. The graph of mean dry weight of Eucalyptus leucophloia (Species 1), Triodia pungens (Species 2) and Acacia tumida (Species 3). 45 1 c List of Tables Table 1.
Substrate contents of every experimental treatment. ANOVA results of the plant height data of Eucalyptus leucophloia (Species 1), Triodia pungens (Species 2) and Acacia tumida (Species 3). ANOVA results on the biomass data of Eucalyptus leucophloia (Species 1), Triodia pungens (Species 2) and Acacia tumida (Species 3). Summary table of chemical analysis of raw coarse rejects (CR) and the coarse reject substrates treated with different levels of fertiliser (T1, T2, T3 and T4) taken half- way through the experiment (at week 11).1 Research Rationale Australia holds the world’s richest iron ore reserves and is responsible for over half (55%) of the global output.
Moreover, 94% of the country’s total production is produced from Pilbara region alone of Western Australia. In addition, Western Australia’s production had been rising annually by an average rate of 12% (Western Australia’s Iron Ore Profile 2016). The escalating industry of iron ore in Western Australia, particularly in Pilbara region, has resulted in the expansion of degraded land. In addition, millions of tonnes of mine wastes are generated annually, while the source of topsoil, which is essentially used for post-mining rehabilitation, is becoming limited (Bell, 2002; Garnett, 2004; Van Vreeswyk et al.
As the mining industry expands and develops, rehabilitation becomes a global priority (Shackelford et al. Although there are studies made to test the rehabilitation potential of mine wastes in general, there are gaps in our knowledge that need thorough research specifically on the potential of iron ore coarse rejects (Lottermoser, 2011). Previous studies recommended fertilizing to replace the nutrient banks lost during vegetation removal and other mining processes (Bell, 2002). However, there is only limited knowledge with regards to the appropriate rates and application method of macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients considering the potential environmental impact, cost-effectivity and labor-efficiency (Lottermoser, 2011).
For these reasons, the industry is constrained from utilizing coarse rejects and other mine waste for the revegetation of native plant species. 3 c The Pilbara region is located in the north of the State of Western Australia having a land cover of 507,896 square kilometers (Department of Regional Development, Western Australia, 2013). It is home to some of the World’s most ancient natural landscapes with rocks dating back from 2 to 3. The region is known as the engine room of Australia for having massive mining industries of crude oil, salt, natural gas and iron ore.
Particularly, the extraction of iron ore is generally performed through a blasting and removal process from large open-pit mines before it is crushed, screened and blended for export or local consumption (Garnett, 2004; Department of Industry, Australia, 2011). Coarse rejects are by-product wastes of iron ore mining. Ores that are extracted from the open-pit mine are transported to processing plants. These iron ores are subjected to various unit processes such us screening, air classification and dry magnetic separators to reduce impurities and increase the ore grade to a marketable product without any production of chemical pollutants (Garnett, 2004).
Several authors claim that these coarse rejects have the potential to act as a surrogate topsoil for plant growth (Johnson et al., 1989; Gellert, 2012; Outback Ecology, 2012), but this potential has rarely been investigated. Rehabilitation is the principal process used to mitigate the long-term impacts of mining on the environment (Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources, Western Australia, 2006). Improvements in rehabilitation practices are crucial to cope up with the increasing land and ecosystem degradation due to growing mining industry. Its success, specifically on the revegetation of native plant species, is often 4 c affected by topsoil resource and management.
It is a significant factor in mine rehabilitation for it has the optimum characteristics for growth and establishment of plants. Because iron ore is generally extracted from the open-pit mine, major concerns are the disposal of accumulating excessive mine waste and the limited source of topsoil which is not enough for a large-scale revegetation (Garnett, 2004). The remoteness of the mine sites has resulted to a limited supply of topsoil for rehabilitation use (Bell, 2002).