A Review on Remediation of Iron Ore Mine Tailings via Organic Amendments Coupled with Phytoremediation

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Mining operations degrade natural ecosystems by generating a large quantity of mine tailings. Mine tailings remain in dams/open ponds without further treatment after valuable metals such as iron ore have been extracted. Therefore, rehabilitation of tailings to mitigate the negative environmental impacts is of the utmost necessity. This review compares existing physical, chemical and amendment-assisted phytoremediation methods in the rehabilitation of mine tailings from the perspective of cost, reliability and durability. After review and discussion, it is concluded that amendment-assisted phytoremediation has received comparatively great attention; however, the selection of an appropriate phytoremediator is the critical step in the process. Moreover, the efficiency of phytoremediation is solely dependent on the amendment type and rate. Further, the application of advanced plant improvement technologies, such as genetically engineered plants produced for this purpose, would be an alternative solution. Further research is needed to determine the suitability of this method for the particular environment.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1871
JournalPlants
Volume12
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 May 2023

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A Review on Remediation of Iron Ore Mine Tailings via Organic Amendments Coupled with Phytoremediation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this