Establishment of Vegetation on Porphyry Copper Mine Wastes at Bougainville, P.N.G.: Plant Nutrition Studies

Abstract

Bougainville Copper Limited operates a large open-cut porphyry copper mine on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. The mining operation entails disposal, and storage on land, of large quantities of waste rock and tailings. Bougainville Copper Limited is committed to revegetating waste rock and tailings as a matter of company policy and through agreements held with the Government of Papua New Guinea. This thesis documents experiments carried out to determine the principal plant nutrient limitations of the mine wastes and to determine ways of overcoming the limitations. Common plant nutrient problems associated with mineral soils in a tropical environment are reviewed. ... It is concluded that vegetation can be successfully established on Bougainville mine wastes if acidity is corrected with lime and if nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and boron fertilisers are applied. Types and rates of fertiliser are suggested. It is suggested that the use of plant species suited for growth on acid mineral soils in the humid tropics, and the use of rock phosphate and effectively nodulated leguminous plants, would be advantageous to the objective of establishing minimum maintenance revegetation.