Monitoring soil fertility to mitigate soil degradation in reclamation land after bauxite mining

Abstract

Bauxite is one of the minerals mined in an open pit system. Mining with this system will initially cause soil degradation because the soil layer covering the bauxite ore will be removed first from the mining location. The top soil will be returned after the bauxite ore extraction is complete. Returning soil to the mining site causes quite severe soil degradation because the process of taking and returning the top soil is carried out by an excavator which mixes the soil. As a result of this process, the soil in the reclamation area changes its chemical, physical and biological properties. To mitigate soil degradation in the reclamation area after bauxite mining, soil fertility status monitoring is carried out. This monitoring activity was expected to be able to identify and reduce the level of soil damage in post-bauxite mining reclamation land.