field sites
Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve. Our team has set up small plot trials (16 in total) with varying dosages of rock powder. This project aims to sequester tonnes of CO2 and re-establish calcium in the soil to reduce the impacts of historic acid rain on the forest. We’ve carried out a larger scale application and are performing complementary laboratory experiments.
Learn more about Haliburton Forest and Wild Life Reserve here
Trent Research Farm. We’ve applied ~30 tonnes of rock powder on 3 hectares of land as an enhanced rock weathering field trial in calcareous soils. We are aiming to establish if measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) are possible and assess best practices. We’re measuring changes in water chemistry, soils, CO2 fluxes, plant growth and crop yields. We’ve are also performing complementary laboratory experiments.
You can learn more about the Trent Experimental Farm here.
Past field sites
De Beers' Voorspoed Diamond Mine, South Africa. This mine was recently closed and is undergoing reclamation efforts. We have studied old residues from pre-1912 including yellow ground (weathered kimberlite).
De Beers' Venetia Mine, South Africa. International team of CO2 mineralization experts conducting fieldwork . Ongoing research is aimed at characterizing kimberlite residues and conduct laboratory technology demonstrations.
PetraDiamonds' Cullinan Mine, South Africa. This mine is over 100 years old and has produced an enormous number of diamonds including the Crown jewels. We had great access to their underground kimberlite mines as well as their old and new tailings facilities. Great thanks to all the people at Cullinan for the opportunity.
ATLIN CARBONATE PLAYAS
These playas are natural analogues for sequestration of carbon dioxide within Mg-carbonate minerals. Field sampling was conducted in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2012. Check out publications by Power et al. (2007, 2009 and 2014).
CLINTON CREEK ABANDONED MINE
This abandoned mine host approximately 11 million tonnes of chrysotile mine wastes that have sequestered over 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Field campaigns were undertaken in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2011. For more information, see publications by Power et al. (2010, 2011b) and Wilson et al. (2009).
SWIFT CREEK SERPENTINITE LANDSLIDE
This landslide is a natural analogue for the weathering of ultramafic mine tailings. The landslide advances several metres per year. The serpentine minerals have weathered to form magnesium carbonate and pyroaurite.
MOUNT KEITH NICKEL MINE
This mine is located in Western Australia and produces approximately 11 million tonnes of mine tailings per year. Field sampling and laboratory analyses have revealed that approximately 40,000 tonnes of CO2 are sequestered each year. See publications by Power et al. (2011a), Bea et al. (2012) and Wilson et al. (2014).
DIAVIK DIAMOND MINE
The Diavik mine is located in the Northwest Territories, Canada. These ultramafic mine tailings sequester carbon dioxide as they weather. See publications by Wilson et al. (2011) and Power et al. (2011a).