Identifying species and planting conditions to revegetate mixed mine tailings at the Whabouchi site operated by Nemaska Lithium in Northern Québec

The long term objective of this project is to develop methods of revegetating mine tailings sites (in this case, a very large tailing mound in northern Quebec) using natural vegetation, and without transporting soil long distances. The specific objective of this project over the next year is to (i) conduct field trials to determine the causes of mortality of transplanted tree saplings using our method and (ii) to identify easily-measured traits of naturally growing plant species that increase the likelihood of such species surviving in these harsh environment. When successful, this will allow our partner organization (Nemaska Lithium) to fulfil its legal obligation to revegetate the site using a cost-effective method.

Faculty Supervisor:

John Shipley

Student:

Chiara Chelo

Partner:

Discipline:

Biology

Sector:

Mining and quarrying

University:

Program:

Accelerate