Basalt Rock Dust Amendment on Soil Health Properties and Inorganic Nutrients—Laboratory and Field Study at Two Organic Farm Soils in New England, USA

Justin B. Richardson ABSTRACT: Basalt rock dust (RD) is a rock quarry byproduct that may improve soil health in organic farming systems. RD was applied at two contrasting organic farms (the no-till VT-Farm in Thetford, Vermont, and the tilled MA-Farm in Barre, Massachusetts) and in soil batch reactors to investigate the impacts of basalt RD applications (6.7 tons ha−1) on physical and chemical soil health properties. Triplicate soil pits at two fields (RD and no RD) at each farm were sampled down between 80 to 110 cm depths in 2020. Median coarse (>2 mm) and very coarse aggregates (>50 mm) increased by 15% to 25%, and soil organic carbon ...

EVALUATION OF ROCK POWDER USE FOR PRIMARY WASTEWATER TREATMENT – AUXIPÓ

The formation of rock powder in suction fan bag filters in mining industries produces large amounts of solid wastes with low aggregated value and usually disposed as an asphaltic compound or in industrial landfills. However, this waste comprises high aluminum and silica levels in its chemical composition, therefore suggesting that it can attain a nobler use as an auxiliary coagulant in primary wastewater treatment. The laboratory tests developed at SENAI CIC (Curitiba, PR) showed that this powder improves color and turbidity removal rates in an average of 50% when applied to three different wastewaters. This technology named AUXIPÓ was ...