Growth of Four Types of Forest Plants Combined with Legume Cover Crop (LCC) in Central Kalimantan Gold Mine Tailings

Abstract

Tailings are one of the wastes that are produced in large quantities in gold mining activities, which can have an impact on the environment if not managed properly. The presence of hazardous substances containing heavy metals in the remaining tailings can damage the environment and health. Phytoremediation is a technique that uses plants to restore land contaminated with heavy metals. This study aims to find the types of plants that can grow well in gold mine tailings. Four (4) types of forest plants were selected, namely Shoreabalangeran, Combretocarpusrotundatus, Melaleuca cajuputi, and Alstoniascholaris combined with three (3) types of cover crop legumes (LCC), namely Mucuna bracteata, Pueraria javanica and Calopogoniummucunoides. Forest plants and LCC were planted in two (2) Mirah I and Mirah II tailings storage facility (TSF) areas with the addition of compost ameliorant. The method used is split plot design. The growth parameters observed were survival percentage, height growth and diameter growth. The results showed that M. cajuputi plants had the best growth on 3 parameters, namely survival percentage, height growth and diameter growth followed by Alstoniascholaris and S. balangeran plants while C. rotundatus plants had relatively lower growth on all parameters.