On the viability of stored waste from processing sulfide ores during the early stages of soil formation

Original paper

Abstract

The article considers the viability of man-made waste from long-term tailings and bulk waste from the enrichment of gold-bearing ores in the early stages of soil formation for oats and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, in order to justify their use in environmentally safe surface conservation. It has been established that many metals and metalloids are present in mobile form in soil-like environments, forming secondary sulfates, the main of which is gypsum. New data on the translocation of chemical elements in the roots and sprouts of oats, on the development of colonizing photo- and heterotrophic microorganisms in technogenic conditions are presented. It is reported that habitats with waste matter turned out to be the most viable for plants and microorganisms at neutral acidity values, the dry weight of seedlings in these samples was significantly higher than against the background of acidic ones. The facts of fossilization of vital cyanobacteria and algae have been established using electron microscopy. The information obtained can be used to characterize primary soil formation and modern mechanisms of biogenic concentration of metals in conditions of technogenesis, taken into account in the justification and development of nature-like technologies for the environmentally safe conservation of sulfide-containing waste from ore agglomeration.