Mark Andrew Lund

Edith Cowan University | ECU · Mine Water and Environment Research (MiWER)

Plastic has become a vitally important material for humans; however, the large amount of plastic waste generated annually pollutes the environment. Plastic decomposition generates microplastics (MPs), which have emerged as a concerning global environmental pollutant because of their potential to be more harmful to the environment than their larger...

Plastic has become a vitally important material for humans; however, the large amount of plastic waste generated annually pollutes the environment. Plastic decomposition generates microplastics (MPs), which have emerged as a concerning global environmental pollutant because of their potential to be more harmful to the environment than their larger...

Mine pit lakes are formed when open‐cut pits flood with water, and these lakes occur by the thousands on every inhabited continent. The remediation and closure of pit lakes is a pressing issue for sustainable development and provision of freshwater ecosystem services. While pit lakes can be spectacular examples of recreation and renewal, pit lakes...

Pit lakes are one of the greatest legacies of open-cut mining. Despite the potential hazards of these lakes, they represent newly formed ecosystems with great scientific and ecological potential. Although thousands of pit lakes occur on every inhabited continent, with more being created, the microbial ecology of pit lakes is relatively under-resear...

Mine pit lakes (‘pit lakes’) are new aquatic ecosystems of the Anthropocene. Potentially hundreds of meters deep, these lakes are prominent in the landscape and in the public consciousness. However, the ecology of pit lakes is underrepresented in the literature. The broad goal of this research was to determine the environmental drivers of pelagic m...

Despite the large body of riparian literature for rivers and lakes, there are few studies on the catchments of mine pit lakes. Therefore, the broad objective of this research was to determine if catchment characteristics were related to pit lake nutrient concentrations. We hypothesised that: (1) catchment characteristics would vary among pit lakes,...

The broad objective of this research was to determine the environmental drivers of macroinvertebrate and microbial assemblages in acidic pit lakes. This is important because pit lake ecosystem development is influenced by prevailing environmental characteristics. Three lakes (Stockton, Kepwari, WO5H) within a larger pit-lake district in Collie, Wes...

Assessing the condition of mine-affected rivers without the use of reference sites. We used microbes (Archaea, Bacteria) as bio-indicators in seasonal (intermittent) rivers. Artificial media were added to sites to investigate microbial colonisation over time.

Microbes are rarely part of river assessment and mine closure programs because their ecology is complex and methods are not standardised. The aims of this paper are to 1) develop standardised collection and analysis protocols for riverine microbes, 2) determine if microbial communities correlate to environmental condition in mine-affected rivers, a...

River flow-through has been used to effectively close pit lakes, however much of the evidence for this comes from permanent rather than seasonal rivers. Lake Kepwari (a former open-cut coal mine in Western Australia) was connected to the seasonal Collie River for closure. River water improved lake water quality but the lake caused varying downstrea...

Microcosm experiments are frequent precursors to field trials for the treatment of acidic pit lakes using organic matter. We conducted field and microcosm experiments to test the effectiveness of hay to remediate two small, shallow acidic pit lakes. 'West' Lake was treated with 19 t of hay and 'East' Lake was untreated. Microcosms mimicked key lake...

Bioremediation of acidic pit lakes

The impact of large-scale mining on the landscape is a permanent legacy of industrialisation and unique to the Anthropocene. Thousands of lakes created from the flooding of abandoned open-cut mines occur across every inhabited continent and many of these lakes are toxic, posing risks to adjacent communities and ecosystems. Sustainable plans to impr...

Floating emergence traps were used in 15 road gullies to determine the effectiveness and longevity of S-methoprene briquets over 124 days. Samples were taken monthly from October 2014 to March 2015. Two treatment methods were assessed: Application of briquet using a float, and application without a float. These methods were compared with untreated...

The use of reference sites for establishing closure criteria in areas disturbed by mining activities is common practice. 'Reference' sites are those considered to be largely unimpacted by anthropogenic activity (retaining desirable natural characteristics), and occurring near disturbed sites. Sites are considered rehabilitated when their biophysica...

Open-cut mining operations can form pit lakes on mine closure. These new water bodies typically have low nutrient concentrations and may have acidic and metal-contaminated waters from acid mine drainage (AMD) causing low algal biomass and algal biodiversity. A preliminary study was carried out on an acidic coal pit lake, Lake Kepwari, in Western Au...

Rivers in Ghana provide environmental and economic services such as fishery and farming, and are also the main sources of clean drinking water. Artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM), a significant industry in Ghana, typically occurs near streams and rivers in order to obtain a source of water for processing and waste discharge. ASGM is subsisten...

Macro nutrients (C, N, P) are essential for sustaining freshwater ecosystems. However, acidic pit lakes are often nutrient-poor as low pH levels and metal complexation (by Al, Fe and Mn) reduces dissolved P and C concentrations. In contrast, N is often not limiting as it is readily available from groundwater and blasting residues. The Collie basin...

Galaxiella nigrostriata is a freshwater fish that is endemic to the seasonally dry coastal wetlands of south-west Western Australia and considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as lower risk-near threatened. This small fish (maximum total length<50mm) aestivates in the sediment over the long, dry Mediterranean summer...

Pit lakes are similar to natural lakes formed by faulting, glacial action, volcanic action and asteroid collisions. These natural lakes have, after thousands of years, developed into environmentally significant ecosystems. As artificial constructs, pit lakes can be modified prior to filling to enhance lake attributes, such as modification of catchm...

Pit lakes may form when open cut mining leaves a pit void behind that fills with ground and surface water. Often replacing terrestrial ecosystems that existed prior to mining, the pit lake may offer an alternative ecosystem with aquatic biodiversity values that can be realised through planned restoration. Restoration theory and mine closure regulat...

Acidic pit lakes may form in open cut mine voids that extend below the groundwater table and fill from surface and groundwater in-flows at the cessation of mining. Pit lake water quality may often be affected by acid mine drainage (AMD). Among the many remediation technologies available, sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) based bioremediation using o...

Acidic pit lakes may form in open cut mine voids that extend below the groundwater table and fill from surface and groundwater in-flows at the cessation of mining. Pit lake water quality may often be affected by acid mine drainage (AMD). Among the many remediation technologies available, sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) based bioremediation using o...

Acidic pit lakes can form in open cut mine voids that extend below the groundwater table. The aim of this research was to determine what bulk organic material concentrations best stimulated sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) for acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment within a pit lake. An experiment was carried out to assess the effect of different subst...

Acidic pit lakes may form in open cut mine voids that extend below the groundwater table and fill from surface and groundwater in-flows at the cessation of mining. Pit lake water quality may often be affected by acid mine drainage (AMD). Among the many remediation technologies available, sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) based bioremediation using o...

Pit lakes may form in open cut mines that extend below the water table and then fill with ground and surface waters following cessation of mining and associated dewatering operations. Pit lake water may be degraded by generation of Acid and Metalliferous drainage (AMD) in and around the lake. These pit lakes may present a risk to water resources an...

Acidic pit lakes may form in open cut mine voids that extend below the groundwater table and fill from surface and groundwater in-flows at the cessation of mining. Pit lake water quality may often be affected by acid mine drainage (AMD). Among the many remediation technologies available, sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) based bioremediation using o...

https://www.imwa.info/imwaconferencesandcongresses/proceedings/264-proceedings-2012.html

Rehabilitation at a silica sand mine on the Swan Coastal Plain of Western Australia, where the post-mine landscape consists of small pit lakes (dredge ponds) with surrounding battered slopes, and where a range of ecological restoration techniques have been applied, was monitored for several years to gauge success or otherwise of these techniques. R...

Pit lakes formed by open-cut mining may have poor water quality as a result of Acidic and Metalliferous Drainage (AMD). Water quality remediation treatments that enhance naturally occurring alkalinity-generating processes (bioremediation) can be used to remediate these water quality problems. Microbially-mediated sulfate reduction using carbon as a...

Pit lakes (abandoned flooded mine pits) represent a potentially valuable water resource. However, acid mine drainage (AMD) generation due to mining activities often results in pit lake waters with low pH, high sulphate and dissolved metal concentrations. Sulphate reduction-based bioremediation offers tremendous scope for removal of acidity and meta...

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Pit lakes are globally increasing in size and number due to rising scale and frequency of open cut mining practices. Pit lakes can have good or poor water quality which is mainly governed by the nature of ore type mined, host and country geology, hydrology and climate. Pit lakes affected by the generation of acidic and metalliferous drainage (AMD)...

Many open-cut mining operations worldwide leave pit lakes at closure. Such lakes may contain vast volumes and can occur in large numbers across a post-mining landscape, transforming a terrestrial-dominated ecosystem into that of a new lake district. Pit lake water quality may also be degraded by Acid and Metalliferous Drainage (AMD). Closure guidel...

In many regions, regulators view pit lakes akin to natural lakes and impose similar guidelines for water quality and biodiversity. At Kemerton (south Western Australia), extraction of silica sands is creating a large deep dredge pond. This is progressively split into smaller lakes, which are then rehabilitated. The water quality and macroinvertebra...

Marron (Cherax cainii Austin) are a freshwater crayfish native to permanent waterbodies in the south-west of Western Australia. A popular aquaculture and sports species, marron are considered a potential end-use fishery species for and have been deliberately released into several historic pit lakes of the Collie coal mining region. This study inves...

Many open-cut mining operations worldwide leave pit lakes at closure. Such lakes may contain vast volumes and can occur in large numbers across a post-mining landscape, transforming a terrestrial-dominated ecosystem into that of a new lake district. Pit lake water quality may also be degraded by Acid and Metalliferous Drainage (AMD). Closure guidel...

Mining pit lakes can form in open cut mining pits that extend below the groundwater table. Pit lakes in the Collie Coal Basin (Western Australia) form a lake district currently consisting of 13 lakes exceeding a total volume of 200 GL. Given long-term risks for contamination, regulatory agencies often rely on geochemical predictions of future pit l...

Many open-cut mining operations worldwide leave pit lakes at closure. Such lakes may contain vast volumes and can occur in large numbers across a post-mining landscape, transforming a terrestrial-dominated ecosystem into that of a new lake district. Pit lake water quality may also be degraded by Acid and Metalliferous Drainage (AMD). Closure guidel...

Rehabilitation at a silica sand mine on the Swan Coastal Plain of Western Australia, where the post-mine landscape consists of small pit lakes (dredge ponds) with surrounding battered slopes, and where a range of ecological restoration techniques have been applied, was monitored for several years to gauge success or otherwise of these techniques. R...

Pit lakes may form when open cut mining leaves a pit void that then fills with ground and surface waters. This ojten replaces terrestrial ecosystems that existed prior to mining with an aquatic ecosystem, affording an opportunity to improve regional aquatic biodiversity values through targeted aquatic restoration (McCullough and van Etten, 2011). R...

This paper reports on the results of several years of monitoring rehabilitation at a silica sand mine on the Swan Coastal Plain, south of Perth. Mining here occurs below the regional watertable and leaves a post-mine landscape of dredge pond voids (pit lakes) with surrounding battered slopes. The restoration we recommended was to develop the pit la...

Galaxiella nigrostriata is a small freshwater fish endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. Galaxiella nigrostriata are unusual because they aestivate in the sediments of seasonal wetlands when the wetlands dry over summer. Although once thought to be more extensively distributed in coastal wetlands between Moore River and Albany, they are no...

Pit lakes are increasingly common worldwide and have potential to provide many benefits. However, lake water toxicity may require remediation before beneficial end uses can be realised. Three treatments to remediate AMD (pH approximately 4.8) pit lake water containing elevated concentrations of Al and Zn from Collie, Western Australia were tested i...

In Australia and worldwide, open cut mining has become increasingly common over the last few decades through changes in excavation technology and ore economics. However, such operations frequently leave a legacy of open mine pits once mining ceases. Pit lakes will then form in mine pits that extend below the water table when dewatering operations c...

Pit lake water in Collie is typically acidic due to Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) caused by pyrite oxidation and ferrolysis coupled with a low natural buffering capacity in surrounding geologies. Pit waters have typically low sulphate, iron and heavy metal concentrations. Nevertheless, Collie pit lakes have low biological productivity probably due to al...

Harvesting and relocation of topsoil has become a standard and often highly successful technique for restoring post-mining landforms. Best practice involves minimising storage times for harvested topsoils, which often implies transporting topsoil to other post-mining landforms. Native wetland communities show complex spatial patterns, including mos...

Eighty-six references relating to the Australian water rat or Rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster Geoffroy), have been collated to create this bibliography. References were taken from available written literature (published and unpublished, with or without peer review) to provide a comprehensive resource for researchers. Using these references we present...

Pit lake waters are often contaminated by acid mine drainage (AMD) from weathering of pyritic materials exposed by mining operations, leading to low pH, and high solute and heavy metal concentrations. Few cost-effective engineering solutions exist for large-scale environmental remediation of AMD-contaminated pit lakes. However, various studies have...

Coal mining in Collie (Western Australia) has produced pit lakes that range in area from

Acidic mine pit lakes represent a potentially valuable resource to both the environment and the community if the water can be remediated to an appropriate standard. Beneficial end uses include: aquaculture, water for irrigation, recreation, and for nature conservation. Additions of organic material to support sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) may con...