1980-07-11_REVISION - M1977493 (8)

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9 . CO-SPONSORED RESEARCH During the past 13 years Climax has become involved in various research projects in cooperation with state and federal agencies, universities , and private organizations. The co-sponsored research has involved stabilization and revegation of high-altitude environments including the alpine, wildlife surveys, technical assistance , silviculture practices and in- formation dissemination. Some of the co-sponsored research projects have been completed , however most projects are still on-going and continually providing valuable information. The major emphasis of the research during the past has been in the area of tailing and subsoil revegation and species adaptabi- lity. A new era of research, as described at the end of this section, has commenced and will emphasize revegetation of Open Pit waste rock material in dumps and over tailing , a sparse re- vegetation of exposed geologic material in the Open Pit, the most practical and efficient uses of limited quantities of top- soil , further species and varietal adaptability test including native alpine species, and the practicability of developing and using alpine seed sources of revegetation at Climax sites . A short description of the research projects is included . 9. 1 FEASIBILITY OF VEGETATIVELY STABILIZING MINE TAILING AT CLIMAX This research was initiated in 1964 in cooperation with Colorado State University. Hayes F. Grubb, a graduate student, attempted to establish herbaceous cover on the origi- nal tailing pond . Grubb' s thesis pointed out the acidity pro- blem ( 4 . 0 - 4. 4 pH) resulting from the decomposition of iron pyrite in the tailing . He also proved nutrient deficiencies and trace mineral shortages existed in the material . Most of the research plots established by Grubb were destroyed after the first year by shifting tailing through wind deposition. In 1969 , Dr. William Berg , agronomist at Colorado State University, began work using species survival plots on 9-1