Surface mining around the world has produced large quantities of waste materials with ecological impacts. Oil sands mining in Canada generates large volumes of petroleum coke and tailings every year, which are stockpiled in the mining areas and must be reclaimed through capping or used in reclamation substrates. A greenhouse study was conducted to determine whether substrates of various mixes of dry tailings (DT), tailings sand (TS), and peat mineral mix (PMM) with coke amendment would support emergence and growth of three grass species commonly used in land reclamation. After 16 wk in the greenhouse, plant performance varied with substrate and amendment. Treatment with DT/TS/PMM (50:25:25) with 40% coke had greatest cover, biomass, and density and the best plant health. Plant growth was inhibited in treatments with DT (100%) and coke (100%) due to high concentrations of hydrocarbons, undesirable exchangeable ions, and salinity that restricted soil water retention (gravimetric water content, hydraulic conductivity) relative to treatments with PMM. Agrostis scabra Willd. and Festuca saximontana. showed poor growth or did not survive on DT and DT/TS with coke. Elymus trachycaulus (Link) Gould ex Shinners performed better in all DT mixes and performed the best in DT/TS/PMM with 40% coke. Results from this study indicate that mixing with PMM could improve the reclamation potential of DT and coke.

中文翻译：

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三种原生草种对石油焦改良尾矿填海基质的响应

世界各地的露天采矿已产生了大量具有生态影响的废料。加拿大的油砂开采每年产生大量的石油焦炭和尾矿，这些焦炭和尾矿被储存在矿区中，必须通过封盖进行回收或用于填海基质中。进行了一项温室研究，以确定干尾矿（DT），尾矿砂（TS）和泥炭矿物混合物（PMM）的各种混合焦炭改良剂的基质是否将支持三种通常在土地开垦中使用的草种的生长。温室16周后，植物性能随基质和改良剂而变化。用含40％焦炭的DT / TS / PMM（50:25:25）处理具有最大的覆盖率，生物量，密度和最佳的植物健康。Agrostis scabra Willd。和Festuca saximontana。在DT和带有焦炭的DT / TS上显示出较差的生长或无法存活。Elymus trachycaulus（Link）Gould ex Shinners在所有DT混合物中的表现都更好，并且在DT / TS / PMM中焦炭含量为40％时表现最好。这项研究的结果表明，与PMM混合可以提高DT和焦炭的回收潜力。