The Ecological Engineering in Mining research group develops new technologies to rehabilitate metal mine tailings and other waste domains to improve economic and ecological sustainability; produce cost-effective remediation of contaminated land; create new knowledge on the biogeochemistry of engineered tailings-soil formation, ecophysiology of native plants and ecological linkages in soil-plant systems.
Sustainable rehabilitation of tailings at metal mine sites is severely constrained by soil resource deficiency. Building on our recent findings of critical processes in soil formation from Cu/Pb-Zn tailings, we aim to develop an integrated technology through eco-engineering the mineralogy and organic constituents of tailings to initiate and accelerate soil formation by using magnetite tailings as a template.
The technology will be underpinned by research to mediate and stimulate key biogeochemical and rhizosphere processes in the tailing-soil towards a functional 'technosol'. We aim to apply this technology at metal mines in Australia, to offset the soil required for rehabilitating tailings landforms with native plant communities.
Grant type: ARC Linkage Projects
- Building the framework for meeting closure criteria in waste rock dump design and performance
- Developing options and strategies for red mud bioremediation
Group Leader
Professor Longbin Huang
Professorial Research Fellow
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Team
Dr Narottam Saha
Research Fellow
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Dr Fang You
Research Fellow
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Merinda Hall
Research Manager
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Dr Yumei Du
Research Assistant
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Dr Jing Zhao
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
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HDR Students
Lachlan Robertson
Casual Research Assistant
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Sicheng Wang
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Xingyun Guo (Jerry)
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Yuanying Ma (Momo)
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Miss Xiaoqi Qian (Molly)
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Nurtiara Ridwan (Tiara)
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Projects within this Group
- In situ engineering red mud into functional soil - A new technology for cost-effective rehabilitation of red mud domains
- Evaluation of key attributes of nutrient cycling in revegetated waste rock landform of Ranger uranium mine
- Eco-engineering soil from mine tailings for native plant rehabilitation
Contact us
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Professor Longbin Huang
Group Leader - Ecological Engineering in Mining, Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation
The Ecological Engineering in Mining research group sits within the Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation (CMLR).