Sarah Rodin

The disposal and management of mine tailings remains a significant environmental challenge for the mining industry. Tailings can be subject to sulfide mineral oxidation, resulting in the formation of acidic, metal-rich drainage that can seep from tailings deposits and contaminate local waterways. Subaqueous storage has been commonly used to limit the formation of acid rock drainage (ARD) within a tailings deposit, however this requires a significant dedication of water resources and can cause geotechnical instability within the dams used for containment. The Victoria Junction Tailings Basin is a subaqueous tailings storage facility for a decommissioned coal mine in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The site represents a significant long-term liability, and it is in the interest of the agencies maintaining the site to determine a safe long-term storage solution that does not require the use of a water cover. Biogeocementation, or microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is a process by which microorganisms are able to facilitate the formation of calcium carbonate crystals by catalyzing the hydrolysis of urea. This process has several potential benefits with respect to environmental management. The objectives Sarah’s research is to assess the use of biogeocementation for the stabilization of coal tailings from the Victoria Junction Tailings Basin, determine the appropriate scale-up procedure for preparing bacteria and substrates, and determine the optimal method of distributing treatment solutions to the tailings.