Pinto Valley Mine Tailings Project

Disturbed soil environments are especially harsh for rebalancing the soil. In our applications BioLynceus® continues to successfully remediate mining tailings, road projects, and disturbed soils. They have brought deteriorated soils back to vital environments with soil enhancing chemical-free products. This addition of beneficial nutrients has created enhanced revegetation growth in benign soils.

Below are photographs of Pinto Valley Copper Mine. Here we see the impact of BioLynceus® Lot 125® on oat grass planted to revegetate Mine Tailings. The areas treated showed significant improvement in root zone and plant development. The picture below shows the root zone development in the treated and untreated plants.

The mining operation requires over one million tons of ore every week. Most of the ore is granite and other minerals. Less than one percent is copper, usually the grade runs from 0.2 to 0.4 percent. Crushing the ore allows for the extraction of copper. This then results in approximately one million tons of crushed ore (Mine Tailings) per week. Mine Tailing piles become extremely high quickly. This material contains no organic material. Therefore, it is difficult to germinate or sustain plant growth. And Arizona state law, which took effect in 1992, requires that these mining piles be either capped or reclaimed (revegetated).

Capping has been extremely costly, and revegetation of the piles has been challenging. Jesse Mitchell, BHP Environmental Technician, has pioneered innovative revegetation programs which have started the process of growing plants on the benign tailings. Mitchell used BioLynceus® soil remediation products. Thereby resulting in biologically softened mine waste material. Additionally, this adds carbon and life into the material.

The program demonstrated that reproduction of vegetation is possible with soil remediation with BioLynceus® pro-organic, probiotic programs. Mining operations are looking for economical ways to accomplish the closure requirements of the EPA and the AZDEQ, without costly financial closure expenses. The bio-organic program of BioLynceus® provides an economical alternative to help remediate the Mine Tailings. The result of BioLynceus® Lot 125 Program is soil that will allow the growth of vegetation.

Below are photographs of Pinto Valley Copper Mine. Here we see the impact of BioLynceus® Lot 125® on oat grass planted to revegetate Mine Tailings. The areas treated showed significant improvement in root zone and plant development.

Case study by Pay Dirt Mining Magazine®