Tailings basin reclamation: Atlantic City Iron Mine, Wyoming
An 81 ha (200 ac) tailings impoundment at a taconite operation in Wyoming abandoned in 1985 has been a source of blowing dust. The site qualified for reclamation under Wyoming's Abandoned Mine Land program. The reclamation design included: incorporating commercially available organic amendments and fertilizers into a 300 mm (12 in.) thick cap of a sterile gravelly clay loam cover material, planting trees in the protective wind/snow shadows of rock beams and rock snow fences, lowering the water level n a flooded mine pit that was feeding uncontrolled seeps, and constructing a wide tailings pond spillway that allows flood control while minimizing seasonal water level fluctuations in the pond. The construction of the earthwork aspects of the design were completed over two construction seasons, including work during the winter at this high-altitude (2,470 m [8,100 ft.]) site. This occurred because snow from an early winter storm that collected behind the rock beams and rock snow fences was slow to melt. Furthermore, the increased snow catch made the site too wet the following spring to allow seeding during the normal seeding window; a fall planting was necessary. The rocky nature of the cover material prompted the development of innovative reclamation approaches, including fabricating a rock rake bulldozer blade and applying organic soil amendments by aerial spraying. A randomly-configured two-acre test plot was installed to evaluate the benefits of various soil amendments as the site matures. Future work on the site will include tree seedling planting and plugging of a decant pipeline.
- Research Organization:
- Knight Piesold and Co., Denver, CO (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20023305
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 16th Annual National Meeting of the American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation, Scottsdale, AZ (US), 08/13/1999--08/19/1999; Other Information: PBD: [1999]; Related Information: In: Mining and reclamation for the next millennium. Proceedings of the 16th annual national meeting of the American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation, by Bengson, S.A.; Bland, D.M. [eds.], 745 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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