Kaiser Resources Limited is extracting coal from a major strip mining operation near Sparwood, B.C. In spite of the recognized economic benefits which accrue from this mine, serious consideration must he given to its potential deleterious effects. Problem areas include accelerated erosion, water pollution, danger of slides and a barren landscape in and around the mine. A reclamation program has been initiated to minimize these problems. It includes land-use planning, physical alteration of topography, revegetation and subsequent tending of reclaimed land. This thesis is related to the revegetation aspect of the above program in that it investigates the feasibility of establishing and growing coniferous trees on overburden. Development of plantations on these mine wastes fits well into the overall reclamation plan as seventy percent of the area to be reclaimed is best suited to growing trees. In addition, trees provide a suitable long-term means of minimizing erosion and pollution. Field work carried out to provide necessary data included the establishment of spring and fall replications of ten sample plots on mined sites around Michel and Natal. One plot was also set out on a small inactive area at the high elevation mine site on Harmer Ridge. The plots were situated and designed so that the effects of site, elevation, species choice, type of planting and time of planting on survival and growth could be studied. Planting was carried out during September 1970 and May 1971. The final collection of data took place during May 1972. Results indicate that trees are suitable for use in the revegetation of the residuals of the Kaiser mine. Analysis reveals spring planting survival to be much higher than that obtained from fall planting. Trees grown in the organic soil plug prototype container show better survival and growth than do bare-root seedlings or stock grown in plastic bullets. The optimum age of planting stock appears to be two years. Trees were successfully established over a wide range of elevations. Of the three species planted, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine did best between elevations of 3500 to 5000 feet. Above 5000 feet Engelmann spruce gave superior results. High mortality occurred on compacted sites and south facing slopes. Successful reforestation of compacted areas will require some form of site preparation to take place prior to planting. Plants other than trees, such as shrubs and grasses, should be used to regenerate south slopes. Successful plantation establishment will be dependent upon the control of both erosion and accidental damage. Proper planning at the highest management level will be required to minimize accidental damage while a variety of site preparation techniques will have to be utilized to control erosion. Further studies of reclamation problems are still required to ensure successful long-term results. Future research possibilities are therefore suggested. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

Includes bibliography. / This thesis attempts to resolve some of the major problems associated with lime treatment in waste water reclamation. The contribution to knowledge is briefly outlined below. One of the major problems associated with lime treatment is the instability of lime-treated effluent, which may result in serious calcium carbonate scale formation problems. In the thesis this instability is attributed to two fundamental causes, (1) Incomplete precipitation, i.e. a kinetic problem. (2) The unintentional absorption of carbon dioxide from the air by the highly alkaline lime-treated effluent, i.e. a contamination problem. Calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxide precipitation are time dependent. As a consequence of this time dependency unstable effluent may be produced under reaction conditions commonly encountered in practice. An exhaustive study identified the major factors affecting the precipitation kinetics. Reaction system conditions required for producing a stable effluent are, (1) Lime slurry and sludge, in that sequence, must be thoroughly mixed with the waste water, preferably by means of in-line static mixers, before discharge to a completely stirred tank reactor. (2) A completely stirred tank reactor with a minimum mean residence time of two minutes must be provided for the dissolution and precipitation reactions to go as near to completion as possible. (3) The reactor contents must have a sludge concentration of the order of 10 000 mg l⁻¹.

Coal mines operated by Teck Coal Ltd., in the Elk Valley, British Columbia, utilize the method of surface mining, resulting in large waste rock piles that affect water quality. In order to limit the influence that these waste rock piles have on water-rock interaction, alternate management strategies are being explored. In this study, the influence of vegetation on evapotranspiration is examined, as potential benefits exist in using vegetation to reduce the infiltration and percolation of water into waste rock. During the 2013 growing season, energy and water balance components were measured using the eddy covariance technique at a bare waste rock surface, a waste rock surface with a vegetated grass cover, and a waste rock surface with a reclaimed forest cover. In addition, other water balance components were measured, such as soil water storage and precipitation. The placement of vegetation atop the waste rock pile allowed for increased evapotranspiration compared to the bare waste rock surface. From 23 May 2013 to 30 September 2013, the reclaimed forest and reclaimed grasses site experienced 305 mm and 272 mm of ET, respectively, while the bare waste rock site had only 140 mm of ET. This increase in evapotranspiration suggests less deep percolation at vegetated sites, estimated as 148 mm, 172 mm and 246 mm for the grass, forest and bare rock sites respectively. ET at the vegetated sites was dominantly controlled by the net radiation, while the near surface moisture was the dominant control on ET at the bare rock site. Results from this study suggest future reclamation projects should consider placing surface vegetation as a potential method to reduce deep percolation into waste rock piles. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1979.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-135).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 176-179).

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning