Vegetation Implementations on soil-free lands in open-pit

Upon completion of mining operations, very large soil-free lands are formed through stockpiling of residues of rock fragments (waste rock) are extracted from open pit mines and don't have the value of mine minerals- as huge hills. Vegetating the slopes of open-pit mines, whose operations are completed, the slopes of hills that are formed through stockpiling of waste rock or slopes, which are formed through refilling materials into the opened holes, is a very important process both in terms of stability and in terms of returning the area to the nature and speeding up the process of getting the damaged ecosytem back to its previous condition. The biggest obstacle in returning these slope piles and the bare excavated lands, back to the environment which are open to erosion and landslide, the incapability of holding the plant nutrients and water which will contribute to the soil formation and is needed by plants to survive. Both direct main rock surface and the lands formed of small and large pieces lack the soil which is capable of holding water. It's necessary to vegetate the land first with floor shutters to protect the particles from erosion and to promote soil formation. These particles join the environment as a result of physical decomposition of rock pieces and they have the ability to hold the water. However, there are extreme challenges in vegetating the soil-free lands. In this research, vegetation implementations on soil-free lands in open-pit mines were examined. Ovacik Gold Mine, which is located in Bergama, Izmir, has been in operation since 2001, and its slopes of waste rock areas together with its slopes that were filled with waste rock of ceased open-pit mine is chosen as the research area. In the research, a total of 23 experimental parcels of land has been built in 3 different areas with different slope and land structures. Seed pallets consisting of hydroseeding, synthetic and natural plant fibers have been used in the experiments. Besides, plant seeds that are durable against conditions of stress, such as poterium (Sarcopoterium spinosum), italian rye-grass (Lolium multiflorum), alfalfa (Medicago sativa) , red clover (Trifolium pratense), white clover (Trifolium repens), tall fescue (Festuca arundinaceae) , bunchgrass (Bromus inermis), orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) have been used as the main materials. At the end of the research, it is determined that vegetation materials should be used in order to prevent the removal by erosion and ensure the increase of small particles that can hold water and are found in the tailing and debris areas in small amounts. And germination by land conditions and types of seed and success development are examined comparatively.