A comparison of metal tolerant and non-tolerant varieties of Festuca rubra for use in the direct hydraulic seeding of metalliferous fluorspar mine tailings.

Both red fescue cultivars germinated satisfactorily, although the laboratory experiment suggested restricted root development in the non-tolerant cultivar. Both experiments, however, showed that the overall shoot growth and cover of the non-tolerant cultivar were not affected. In fact, in the field experiment the non-tolerant cultivar performed better than the metal tolerant cultivar and showed no pathological symptoms of metal toxicity after 12 months. The advantages of using wood pulp as a mulch were clearly demonstrated. Application of an alginate stabilizer had no benefit. Use of carefully selected non-tolerant cultivars in the revegetation of such calcareous metalliferous wastes is possible, even where the Zn content is as high as 1%. -from Authors