Long-Term Reclamation Monitoring of Reclaimed Mine Waste Facilities

Location

Various mine sites, Arizona

Client

Confidential

Project Description

GSA is conducting long-term (10+ years), comprehensive reclamation monitoring at six Arizona mines to support mine managers’ assessments of how effectively reclamation covers are supporting landscape development. GSA scientists are monitoring vegetation, mineral groundcover, erosion, and landscape function on tailings, waste rock, slag, and borrow source facilities, as well as in undisturbed analog sites.

Vegetation monitoring documents the presence and abundance of seeded and non-seeded species, native and non-native species, and various life forms (grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees); characterizes the mineral groundcover and canopy cover; and quantifies gap distances. GSA conducts erosion surveys to estimate the movement of material down or off the slopes. GSA also conducts Landscape Function Analyses (LFA) on selected sloped vegetation survey sites to characterize resource capture and loss on these slopes. Results guide adaptive management decisions to help meet reclamation goals.

Project Highlights