Performance of Eucalyptus species on capped arsenic-rich gold mine tailings in the Victorian Goldfields, Australia

Abstract

An experimental tailings research facility was constructed to allow long-term trials to be conducted and investigate the performance and variation in growth and arsenic foliar content in Eucalyptus spp. A cover of slurried oxide waste-residue was poured on to consolidated arsenic-rich sulfidic gold tailings (≈2000 mg As kg-1) and capped with local topsoil. This study focuses on the growth responses of candidate Eucalyptus species in relation to arsenic-rich substrate. Three provenances of Eucalyptus cladocalyx grew the fastest and, on average, produced the largest stem volumes. The local provenance E. goniocalyx was the poorest. Among the others, Corymbia maculata ranked second, E. camaldule..