RECLAMATION OF ABANDONED MINE LAND: A CASE STUDY FROM TUMMALAPALLE URANIUM MINING AREA, CUDDAPAH DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH, SOUTH INDIA

Mine tailings are a characteristic of landscapes where mineral extraction has occurred. These tailings usually contain high heavy metal concentrations and have low fertility. In arid and semiarid zones, erosion may be an additional problem. The removal of these tailings is often impractical due to their large volumes. Therefore, a need exists to develop in situ low cost technologies to effect surface stabilization. The use of vegetation can be an attractive option, since there are some native plant species that can colonize parts of these polluted sites. Further, this study focuses the potential for certain heavy metals in certain native plant species occurring on uranium mine tailings of Tummalapalle area of Andhra Pradesh. This study aims to determine the concentration of As, U, Cu and Zn were analyzed using induction coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). A total of 10 plant species and its soils were collected for this study.The results show that the Almania longipendenculati is able to accumulate arsenic (3.78 ppm) and uranium (5.01 ppm) in its leaves. Amongst the studied plants, Flugia monophyllahas recorded highest accumulation of 115.52 ppm of Cu and 18.88 ppm of Pb in its leaves. In soils, about 176.60 ppm of uranium; 98.18 ppm of arsenic;132.20 ppm of Cu and 107.04 ppm of Pb were accumulated. These species could have potential for phytoremediation due to their large capacity to uptake and transfer elements, and their ability to grow in the presence of other toxic metals.