Publications by Year
Waste Not, Want Not – Using Waste Hay to Improve Pit Lake Water Quality
Effects of anthropogenic acidification on aquatic ecosystems.
What do elevated background contaminant concentrations mean for AMD risk assessment and management in Western Australia?
Upper and lower concentration thresholds for bioremediation of Acid Mine Drainage using bulk organic substrates.
Breach and decant of an acid mine lake by a eutrophic river: river water quality and limitations of use .
Pit lakes in Australia.
Proceedings of the International Mine Water Association (IMWA) Conference. Bunbury, Australia.
Upper and lower concentration thresholds for bioremediation of Acid Mine Drainage using bulk organic substrates.
Riverine breach and subsequent decant of an acidic pit lake: evaluating the effects of riverine flow-through on lake stratification and chemistry.
Breach and subsequent decant of an acidic brackish pit lake in the Collie Coal region in south-western Australia occurred during flooding of a pre-mining diverted eutrophic river. Inflowing fresher river water with…
Breach and subsequent decant of an acidic brackish pit lake in the Collie Coal region in south-western Australia occurred during flooding of a pre-mining diverted eutrophic river. Inflowing fresher river water with high alkalinity and nutrient concentrations settled over more saline and acidic pit lake water. This created a halocline with better mixoliminion water quality and monimolimnion water quality typical of the pre-breach lake. Flow-through may represent the best long-term mine closure option for this and other pit lakes in the state and internationally where pit lake water quality degrades over time when excised from regional water systems.
Bioremediation of pit lake water by sulfate reduction.
Potential of sewage and green waste for acidic pit lake bioremediation.
Bacterial sulfate reduction-based bioremediation was trialled in an acidic pit lake, divided into two sections by an earth wall. Sewage and green waste was added to the smallest section, while the other…
Bacterial sulfate reduction-based bioremediation was trialled in an acidic pit lake, divided into two sections by an earth wall. Sewage and green waste was added to the smallest section, while the other was kept untreated as a control. Bioremediation initially increased the pH of the hypolimnion of the treatment lake but after 12 months the pH suddenly returned to pre-treatment levels. This proved to be only temporary and pH bounced quickly back to previous highs. The pH decreases appeared to be associated with heavy rainfall events. These rainfall events affected the bioremediation by mixing the lake and increasing acidity inputs from the catchment.
Evaluating the factors limiting algal biomass in acidic pit lakes of the Collie Lake District, Western Australia.
Acidic pit lakes often have elevated metal concentrations, very low nutrient concentrations and very low algal primary productivity. A microcosm experiment was performed to identify the main limiting factor(s) for algal biomass.…
Acidic pit lakes often have elevated metal concentrations, very low nutrient concentrations and very low algal primary productivity. A microcosm experiment was performed to identify the main limiting factor(s) for algal biomass. Nutrients (N, P and C) were added in all possible combinations to pit lake water in the presence or absence of pit lake sediment. Microcosms without sediment showed higher chlorophyll a concentrations compared to the treatments with sediment. Microcosms where nitrogen and phosphorus were added showed highest chlorophyll a concentrations. Results suggest that algal biomass in pit lakes may be primarily limited by low nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations.
Limiting factors for crayfish and finfish in acidic coal pit lakes
World-wide, open-cut mining operations often leave pit lakes at closure. The Collie Lake District in south-west Australia has 13 pit lakes from open-cut coal extraction, with more expected. Many lakes may offer…
World-wide, open-cut mining operations often leave pit lakes at closure. The Collie Lake District in south-west Australia has 13 pit lakes from open-cut coal extraction, with more expected. Many lakes may offer beneficial end uses as fisheries habitat for biodiversity or for recreational species. However, pit lakes may have degraded water quality due to Acid and Metalliferous Drainage (AMD). A literature review and survey for marron (endemic crayfish of biodiversity and recreational value) and fin-fish (of only biodiversity value) found that crayfish were likely more limited by habitat and food availability, and fin-fish by water quality. Management of these mild acidic water bodies must address both issues if sustainable fisheries and aquatic biodiversity are desired beneficial end uses.
Model-based investigations of acidity sinks and sources of a pit lake in Western Australia.
Lake Kepwari is a rehabilitated lake in the Collie Basin lignite mining area in Western Australia. The water quality of Lake Kepwari was modeled with the pit lake hydrodynamic and water quality…
Lake Kepwari is a rehabilitated lake in the Collie Basin lignite mining area in Western Australia. The water quality of Lake Kepwari was modeled with the pit lake hydrodynamic and water quality model PITLAKQ. Based on a hydrodynamically validated model, water quality scenarios were used to quantify the sensitivity of different acidity sources including groundwater exchange, surface runoff and erosion, providing new insights into the system. The technique of monthly aggregation of all sources and sinks of acidity, based on detailed model output, provided the basis for useful conclusions. Model results suggest a new focus of field investigations to improve modeling certainty and a follow-up, improved phase of modeling.
Vulnerability of organic acid tolerant wetland biota to the effects of inorganic acidification.
Remediation of water quality and macroinvertebrate communities in an urban artificial lake affected by acid sulphate soils.
More than water quality: environmental limitations to a fishery in acid pit lakes of Collie, south-west Australia.
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…
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 investigated what environmental factors in these acid mine drainage (AMD) contaminated pit lakes might be affecting the health and success of existing marron fisheries. Although pit lake water quality was often low (pH