Chemosphere 184 (2017) 594e600

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Chemosphere
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere

Review

A review on in situ phytoremediation of mine tailings

Li Wang, Bin Ji, Yuehua Hu, Runqing Liu, Wei Sun*
School of Mineral Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, PR China

h i g h l i g h t s

Mine tailings pose significant risk to the environment.

Reviewed the development of mine tailing remediation techniques.

Concept of phytoremediation of mine tailings is presented.

Factors affecting phytoremediation of mine tailings are discussed.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Mine tailings are detrimental to natural plant growth due to their physicochemical characteristics, such
Received 13 February 2017 as high pH, high salinity, low water retention capacity, high heavy metal concentrations, and deficiencies
Received in revised form in soil organic matter and fertility. Thus, the remediation of mine tailings has become a key issue in
5 June 2017
environmental science and engineering. Phytoremediation, an in situ cost-effective technology, is
Accepted 7 June 2017
emerging as the most promising remediation method for mine tailings by introducing tolerant plant
Available online 7 June 2017
species. It is particularly effective in dealing with large-area mine tailings with shallow contamination of
Handling Editor: T. Cutright organic, nutrient and metal pollutants. In this review, the background, concepts and applications of
phytoremediation are comprehensively discussed. Furthermore, proper amendments used to improve
Keywords: the physical, chemical and biological properties of mine tailings are systematically reviewed and
Mine tailings compared. Emphasis is placed on the types and characteristics of tolerant plants and their role in phy-
Phytoremediation toremediation. Moreover, the role of microorganisms and their mechanism in phytoremediation are also
Amelioration discussed in-depth.
Plants
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Microorganisms

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
2. The concept of phytoremediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595
3. Soil amelioration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
3.1. Type of soil amelioration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
3.2. Role of microorganisms in soil amelioration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
4. Plant growth for phytoremediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
4.1. Appropriate plant species for phytoremediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
4.2. Role of microorganisms in facilitating plant growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
5. Conclusion and future perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 598
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599

1. Introduction
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: sunmenghu@csu.edu.cn (W. Sun).
Mine tailings are by-products of mineral processing and are

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.06.025
0045-6535/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 L. Wang et al. / Chemosphere 184 (2017) 594e600
generally deposited in open-air tailing ponds without any treat-
ment (Babel et al., 2016). They are mixtures of sand, fine-grained
solid material, water and significant quantities of heavy metals
(Santiban ~ ez et al., 2011). The annual discharge of mine tailings in
the world exceeds 10 billion tons (Adiansyah et al., 2015). In China,
there currently exit over 8000 state-owned mines and 110,000
township enterprises mines, and the total accumulation of tailings
since 2009 is been over 10 billion tons (Pan et al., 2014). China
currently has more than 12,000 tailings ponds, which occupy a
large area of land, including farm and woodland (Yin et al., 2011).
These kinds of tailings ponds not only damage local land resources,
but also produce severe environmental pollution. According to
report, the total area of mined lands and land resource damaged by
tailings is over 2000 ha.
It has been documented that mine tailings pose significant risks
to human health and the environment (Yang et al., 2012; Sanchez-
Lopez et al., 2015). Because of their rather loose nature and easily
flow and collapse when stacked, tailings dams frequently fail
catastrophically and this has led to various of disasters worldwide,
resulting in property losses and people casualties (Dary et al., 2010).
On February 26, 1972, a tailings dam failure at Buffalo Mine in West
Virginia, United State, killed 125 people, and rendered 4000 people
homeless (Orendorff, 2009). On April 25, 1998, large amounts of
acidic water and toxic mud containing heavy metals were released
into the Agrio River in Spanish as a consequence of a mine tailings
spill, which caused the largest environmental pollution accident
ever recorded in the country (Grimalt et al., 1999).
The discharge of mine tailings with high amounts of hard-
degraded heavy metals or organic pollutants has deleterious ef-
fects on ecosystems (Dary et al., 2010). Excessive heavy metals often
suppress root growth in plants and cause leaf chlorosis and lower
biomass production (Jadia and Fulekar, 2009). For example, higher
concentrations of heavy metals cause enhanced uptake by crops
and affect plant growth negatively, sometimes leading to plant
mortality (Schmidt, 2003). During the past decade, a large number
of studies have been carried out to develop mine tailing remedia-
tion techniques, aiming to improve ecological environment of
mining areas and make maximum use of tailing resources. At
present, the common treatment methods for tailings include
physical treatment, chemical remediation and bioremediation.
Physical treatment, such as dumping, covering, or solidifying, is
the simplest remediation method used in almost all types of mine
tailings. It is a quick and effective way to improve soil conditions
and prevent migration of contaminants, and it offers an appropriate
substrate for plant growth. However, this kind of technique is not
suitable for contaminated soil on a large scale due to its low
treatment efficiency and high cost (Khan and Jones, 2009). More-
over, physical treatment does not utilize valuable components of
mine tailings (Conesa et al., 2006). Chemical remediation includes
soil leaching/acid extraction and soil washing, both of which are
used to remove heavy metals with the help of organic chemical
reagents. Compared to physical treatments, this method is effective,
enabling fast repair, and is applicable as an intensive treatment for
Table 1
Estimated costs of different treatment for remediation mine tailings.
Technique Cost (US $/ton)
Glass, 1999 Mulligan et al., 2001
Landfill 100e500 e Up to 125
Chemical remediation 100e500 60e290
Biopiles e e
Bioventing e e
Phytoremediation 5e40 e e
595
small tailings facilities with heavy pollution (Guerinot and Salt,
2001). However, the major limitation of this technique is that it
impoverishes the physical properties of soil (Tordoff et al., 2000).
In comparison with traditional techniques, phytoremediation, a
form of bioremediation, has gradually attracted attention, since it is
best suited for the remediation of diffusely polluted areas through
the use of plants. It is also a cheap method (Salt et al., 1995). Table 1
compares the estimated costs of physical, chemical, and other
biological remediation treatments with the use of phytor-
emediation. In addition, phytoremediation can be carried out on
site, thus reducing exposure risks for cleanup personnel or sec-
ondary contamination in transport. However, the physical, chemi-
cal, and biological properties of mine tailings also limit plant
growth and its application in agriculture. The aim of this review is
therefore to discuss the phytoremediation of mine tailings in terms
of the following three aspects: soil amelioration, selection of
tolerant plants, and the role of soil microorganisms.
2. The concept of phytoremediation
Phytoremediation, an efficient, inexpensive, and environmen-
tally- and eco-friendly rehabilitation strategy, is a bioremediation
techniques utilizing plants to remove, detoxify, and contain both
organic and inorganic contaminants, especially from soil (Dary
et al., 2010; Glick, 2010). Moreover, phytoremediation appears to
benefit soil stabilization, biomass/biofuel production, and carbon
sequestration, because many plant species show an excellent ability
to produce biomass and accumulate various environmental pol-
lutants (Afzal et al., 2014). In general, plants treat contaminated
lands without destroying the topsoil, thus maintaining or
improving soil utility and fertility (Ali et al., 2013).
Revegetating mine tailings is an efficient method of reducing the
global environmental risk by stabilizing soil. In addition, it can
improve the quality of these soils by enhancing organic matter,
nutrient concentration, and biological activity (Janos et al., 2010;
Pourrut et al., 2011; Teixeira et al., 2011). The usefulness of phy-
toremediation in the remediation of mine tailings and polluted soil
has been proven. The promising results of these studies caused
increased interest in screening new tolerant plant species and
searching for more effective bioremediation approaches.
Plants play an important role in removing contaminants from
the environment, accomplishing their detoxification effect. As
shown in Fig. 1, three major phytoremediation techniques can be
distinguished depending on different plant properties: phytoex-
traction, -stabilization and -volatilization (Marques et al., 2009). In
the first method, plants are used to take up contaminants or metals
via their roots. This type of extraction can be realized by accumu-
lation, or hyperaccumulation, of metals in the above-ground plant
biomass. Contaminants or metals are then stored in the harvestable
parts of plants and disposed as hazardous waste or incinerated for
metal recovery. For phytostabilization, plants are used as a vege-
tation cap to not only reduce the mobility and bioavailability of
contaminants in the natural environment but also the availability
Factors to be considered
Houghton, 1996
Transport/excavation/monitoring
12e750 Recycling of contaminants
19e44 Long-term monitoring/temperature/biodegradation
19e94 Long-term monitoring
Long-term monitoring/temperature
596 L. Wang et al. / Chemosphere 184 (2017) 594e600

been shown that lime, fly ash, phosphate-based materials, and

Phytovolatilization
Phytostabilization
Phytoextraction
Metals
Fig. 1. Type of soil phytoremediation.
for entry into the human food chain. The plant canopy serves to
reduce aeolian dispersion, while plant roots prevent water erosion,
immobilize heavy metals, and prevent leaching. Thus, phytostabi-
lization is a promising technique for the long-term stabilization of
the tailings by creating a vegetation cap. Finally, phytovolatilization
involves plants taking up pollutants (including organic contami-
nants) together with water and releasing them into the atmosphere
through stomata; some of these pollutants can therefore pass
through the plants and reach the leaves, thereby they can evaporate
into the atmosphere (Pulford and Watson, 2003; Mendez and
Maier, 2008).
3. Soil amelioration
Stable soil structure is important for maintaining agricultural
productivity and reducing erosion (Caron et al., 1996). Unfortu-
nately, the physicochemical characteristics of mine tailings are not
conducive to natural plant growth because of factors such as
extreme pH, high salinity, low water retention capacity, high con-
centrations of heavy metals, and deficiencies in soil organic matter
and fertility (Wong and Ho, 1993, 1994; Asensio et al., 2013a).
Hence, proper amendments should be applied to improve the
physical, chemical and biological properties of mine tailings to
enhance plant establishment (Courtney et al., 2009; Santiban ~ ez
et al., 2011).
3.1. Type of soil amelioration
Based on the optimal growth conditions for plants, soil
amelioration on mine tailings has been widely attempted using
~ ez et al., 2011). It has
organic and/or inorganic materials (Santiban
organic materials such as biosolids, litter, compost, and manure can
be used to manage landscapes in mined areas (Brown et al., 1996).
Lime application is one of the most widely adopted methods for
neutralizing acidity and reducing the toxicity of metals in oxidized
mine tailings (Ye et al., 1999; Catalan et al., 2002). Unfortunately, it
is limited gradually because of the dissolution and leaching of the
liming agent, especially under acidic environments (Ruttens et al.,
2010). McGowen et al. reported that the addition of phosphate-
based materials is recognized as an effective method for immobi-
lizing Cd, Pb, and Zn in soils (McGowen et al., 2001) Moreno et al.
further proposed that pumice is an excellent inorganic material to
improve the drainage of fine-grained tailings (Moreno et al., 2004).
In summary, inorganic amendments mainly improve physical
properties of mine tailings, such as drainage, or limited chemical
properties, such as pH and excessive soluble metal levels (Allen
et al., 2007; Janos et al., 2010; Pourrut et al., 2011).
Compared with inorganic materials, amendment with organic
materials has been proven to buffer soil pH, thereby indirectly
affecting the adsorption and complexation of metals in mine tail-
n
~ ez et al., 2008; Teixeira et al., 2011).
ings (Sopper, 1993; Santiba
Additionally, organic amendments could improve soil properties,
nutritional status, water infiltration, and water-holding capacity
(Munshower, 1994; Tordoff et al., 2000). Table 2 provides some
examples of phytoremediation techniques of mine tailings using
soil amendments and plant species.
Gil-Loaiza et al. studied phytoremediation of mine tailings at the
Iron King Mine and Humboldt Smelter Superfund sites through the
addition of compost. Results demonstrated that canopy cover
ranging from 21 to 61% developed after 41 months in the compost-
amended planted treatments, while no plants grew on unamended
tailings. As shown in Fig. 2, compost amendment and seeding
allowed plant establishment in preliminary greenhouse studies,
and sustained growth over 4 years demonstrated feasibility for this
phytoremediation technology (Gil-Loaiza et al., 2016). Vero nica
et al. investigated the effect of biosolids (sludge) amendment on the
biological soil quality of Cu tailings. Results demonstrated that the
sludge amendment had a significant impact on plant growth and
development by neutralizing soil pH, reducing metal concentration
and increasing soil fertility. Moreover, the addition of sludge has
been found to improve soil biological properties of mine tailings as
well as soil biological community structure (Asensio et al., 2013b).
Fellet et al. proposed that as a valuable source of organic matter,
pyrolyzed biomass (biochar) had an excellent ability to aid the
establishment of vegetation cover by improving the soil nutrition
and structure of mine tailings, including the pH, cation exchange
capacity, water-holding capacity, and bioavailability of Cd, Pb, Ti
and Zn (Fellet et al., 2011).

Table 2
Phytoremediation techniques of mine tailings using soil amendments and plant species.

Phytoremediation techniques Suggestions Reference

Tailings type Amendments addition Plant species

Copper mine tailings
Zinc smelters contaminated soils
Gold mine tailings
Multi-metal mine tailings
Sludge Pinus pinaster,
eucalyptus, pines
Cyclonic ashes (CAH), Lolium perenne
lime, steel shots (SS)
Biosolids India mustard and carrot
Pumice Berkheya coddii, the
salt-tolerant Atriplex,
canescens Brassica juncea
and Lupinus sp.
Sludge amendments could improve soil Asensio et al., 2013b
properties and nutrient availability for plants.
The combination of CAHþSS amendments Ruttens et al., 2010
played an important role in decreasing
metal mobility and bioavailability
The optimum mixing proportion contained Alcantara et al., 2015
75% biosolids and 25% Au mine tailings
Pumice can effectively accumulate Fn et al., 2004
Hg in phytoremediation
 L. Wang et al. / Chemosphere 184 (2017) 594e600 597

Fig. 2. Scaling up compost-assisted phytoremediation of mine tailings (Gil-Loaiza et al., 2016).

3.2. Role of microorganisms in soil amelioration
Recent studies have demonstrated that microorganisms play an
important role in phytoremediation technology. Some species of
microorganisms, including biodegradative bacteria, plant growth-
promoting bacteria (PGPB), and filamentous fungi, appear to be
beneficial in phytoremediation by changing their soil environment,
increasing biomass production and bioavailability of heavy metals,
and reducing toxicity of heavy metals (Cao and Liu, 2015). There-
fore, they can be used in soil amelioration (Fig. 3).
Microorganisms can produce certain kind of organic acids,
improving the solubility of heavy metals by changing their soil
environment, including pH and oxidation-reduction potential.
Some polysaccharides secreted by microorganisms can easily bind
soil particles, thereby improving soil aggregates structure and
enhancing soil structural stability. For example, glomalin and other
glycoproteins released by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi improve
soil structure by increasing particle aggregation and stabilizing
aggregates against wind and water erosion. In addition, some soil
bacteria are able to degrade toxic organic compounds, including
solvents, produced in mineral processing.
Microorganisms further play an important role in removing or
detoxifying heavy metals during the phytoremediation process.
Some filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus niger, Mucor rouxxii, and
Rhizopus arrhizus can be used as sorbents because of their capacity
for adsorbing metal ions such as Cu2þ, Co2þ, Cd2þ, Zn2þ, and Pb2þ.
Because fungi often associate with the roots of mycorrhizal plants,
these metals remain in the hyphae and roots and become less
bioavailable, thus toxicity to other organisms is reduced (Meier
et al., 2012). It has further been demonstrated that some kinds of
microorganisms are able to take up metals and metalloids from
contaminated soil by reducing them to a lower redox state (Lovley
and Coates, 1997). For example, some microorganisms, such as
Bacillus arsenicoselenatis, Chrysiogenes arsenatis, Sulfurospirillum
arsenophilum, and S. barnesii have been found to have a large ca-
pacity for mobilizing As in mine tailings, wherein they can rapidly

Aggregates structure polysaccharide,

glomalin production
Wind and water
Metal uptake through
Soil amelioration erosion
hyphae
Removing or
Microbial reduction
detoxifying metals

Degrading toxic Chelating in cell wall

Phytoremediation
organic compounds
of mine tailings Bacteria,
fungi and
Solubilizing minerals microalgae

Providing nutrients
Facilitating plant
growth
Lowing plant
ethylene levels

Increasing their
tolerance to acidic
pH and metals

Fig. 3. Contribution of microorganisms to the phytoremediation of mine tailings.

598 L. Wang et al. / Chemosphere 184 (2017) 594e600
achieve microbial reduction of As (V) (Macur et al., 2001).
4. Plant growth for phytoremediation
4.1. Appropriate plant species for phytoremediation
Selecting the appropriate plant species is one of the most
important considerations in the phytoremediation process. The
appropriate plant species should be capable of tolerating high
metal levels and extreme soil conditions, such as high acidity,
salinity, or alkalinity (Wu et al., 2013). In addition, plants for
revegetation should have other favorable attributes such as dense
rooting systems, relatively fast growth rates, and high biomass
production (Marques et al., 2009). Furthermore, in semiarid mining
regions, plant species should also be able to adapt to drought.
Metal-tolerant native plants are usually selected because they often
demonstrate tolerance to local environmental conditions and could
easily grow and proliferate (Santiban ~ ez et al., 2011). In addition,
some fast-growing transgenic plants are well suited for phytor-
emediation, because they exhibit excellent performance with
regards to detoxification of organic pollutants and removal of heavy
metals (Doty et al., 2007; Van Aken, 2008).
Yang et al. found that certain plant species, especially Imperata
cylindrica, could inhibit the oxidization of sulfide minerals effec-
tively in mine tailings by reducing the number of Fe- and S-
oxidizing bacteria (Li et al., 2016). Justine et al. demonstrated that
two legume species, Calopogonium mucunoides and Centrosema
molle, can be established in Cu tailings. These two legume species
exhibited good growth and had the ability to significantly reduce
heavy metal concentrations in the mine tailings, indicating the
possibility of metal hyperaccumulation. Moreover, the formation of
clay minerals after revegetation indicates the breakdown of the
primary minerals into more soil-like substrates dominated by clays
and organic materials (Domingo and David, 2014).
Suitable plants for phytoremediation can be divided into two
groups based on their function: metal hyperaccumulators and
biomass producers (Robinson et al., 1998; Moreno et al., 2004).
Metal hyperaccumulators are plants that exhibit higher levels of
metal ion absorption in their tissues but usually do not produce a
high amount of biomass and have a slow growth rate. Brassicaceae
species are commonly known to have exceptionally high metal-
accumulating capacities (Belimov et al., 2005). Brett et al. re-
ported that Thlaspi species (typical hyperaccumulators) can
contain over 1% Zn, 0.1% Ni, and 0.1% Cd in dry tissues. In addition,
other heavy metals, including As, Cu, Co, Mn, and Pb could poten-
tially be hyperaccumulated from mine tailings (Robinson et al.,
1998). Biomass producers include plants that have a high biomass
production and growth rate but a relatively low metal uptake ca-
pacity, such as Brassica juncea (Indian mustard) (Belimov et al.,
2005).
4.2. Role of microorganisms in facilitating plant growth
Nutrient shortage is one of the major constraints limiting phy-
toremediation in mine tailings areas. Microorganisms such as
bacteria, fungi and microalgae play an important role in solubilizing
minerals such as P- and K-feldspar, releasing nutrients and sup-
plying them to plants through in situ bioremediation processes
(Schmalenberger et al., 2013). The production of metabolites such
as organic acids, amino acids, vitamins, indoleacetic acids, and
extracellular enzymes has also been proven to enhance plant
growth (Alexander and Zuberer, 1991). In addition, phytohormones,
siderophores and the enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate
(ACC) deaminase, synthesized by microorganisms, are essential for
plant growth. For example, ACC deaminase facilitates plant growth
Fig. 4. Comparison between PGP bacteria inoculated and uninoculated plants (Ullah
et al., 2015).
by lowering plant ethylene levels (Glick et al., 2007). Generally,
microorganisms facilitate plant growth by using one or more of the
abovementioned mechanisms (Valentín-Vargas et al., 2014).
In addition to their application in metal removal, PGPB are
generally utilized to facilitate plant growth either indirectly or
directly (Glick, 1995). Christo et al. reported that the use of PGPB
enhances plant growth and significantly reduces the amount of
compost needed in amendment. Furthermore, selected PGPB can
aid plant growth by increasing their tolerance to acidic pH and
metals (Grandlic et al., 2008). Moreover, PGPB have the ability to
increase metal accumulation through the release of biosurfactants,
siderophores, and organic acids. Wu et al. discussed the use of PGPB
to enhance metal accumulation in Brassica juncea from Pb-Zn mine
tailings. The study found that, compared with the control treat-
ment, phytoremediation efficiency was increased by the presence
of rhizobacteria, which can produce a significant amount of above-
ground biomass, and altered bioavailability of metals in the mine
tailings (Wu et al., 2006). A comparison between inoculated and
uninoculated plants is shown in Fig. 4, which indicates that plants
inoculated with PGPB accumulate greater amounts of heavy metals
(Ullah et al., 2015).
Compared to bacteria, fungi show a distinct advantage in phy-
toremediation due to their high tolerance for extreme pH, climate,
nutrients, and heavy metals. Griffioen isolated an arbuscular
endomycorrhizal fungus from the rhizosphere of Agrostis capillaris
in the contaminated surroundings of a Zn refinery and found
heavy-metal-tolerant characteristics in this fungus (Griffioen,
1994). A novel strategy of using fungi to promote plant growth
and for the removal and bioaccumulation of heavy metals has been
studied for plants such as Zea mays (Adiansyah et al., 2015), Medi-
cago sativa (Pan et al., 2014), and Helianthus annuus (Yin et al.,
2011). Fungi such as arbuscular mycorrhizae and Aspergillus niger
are known to increase heavy metal availability and reduce the
toxicity of heavy metals to plants (Meier et al., 2012; Shafiq and
Jamil, 2012). The use of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the phy-
toremediation process has been reported in several studies.
Research has shown that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi often asso-
ciate with plant roots and absorb nutrients from soil and transport
them to the plant. They were found to play an important role in
accumulating heavy metals in plant roots as well as plant nutrient
acquisition (Gaur and Adholeya, 2004; Meier et al., 2012).
5. Conclusion and future perspectives
Since mine tailings are now considered to be widespread con-
taminants of the environment, appropriate remediation methods
 L. Wang et al. / Chemosphere 184 (2017) 594e600
are necessary. The discharge of tailings worldwide has exceeded 10
billion tons per annum. Physical and chemical methods for man-
aging mine tailings have serious limitations because of their high
cost, low efficiency and creation of secondary pollution problems.
In contrast, in situ phytoremediation is now regarded as the most
promising method for the management of mine tailings.
Phytoremediation is receiving increasing attention because it is
seen as a low-cost and environmentally- and eco-friendly reha-
bilitation strategy. Research into phytoremediation of mine tailings
has focused on three areas, namely soil amelioration, selection of
tolerant plants, and the role of soil microorganisms. Proper
amendments should be utilized to improve the physical, chemical,
and biological properties of mine tailings to enhance plant growth.
Research is being done to select appropriate plant species for
phytoremediation of mine tailings. Furthermore, studies are being
carried out to facilitate phytoremediation using microorganisms.
More fundamental and applied researches includes the agro-
nomic practices are needed in the future. First, it is important to
minimize the necessary inputs of soil amelioration for plant
establishment, since mine tailings sites are usually located in
remote areas, and transporting large quantities of amendments to
these locations is difficult and costly. In order to successfully
establish vegetation, identifying native plants and effects of
growing plants on the wider environment should be seriously
considered. Moreover, improvement of the interactions between
plants and beneficial microorganisms is considered to be an
important element in improving the efficiency of phytoremediation
technology.
Acknowledgements
The authors are sincerely grateful for the financial support from
the “111” Introducing Talents Program (Grant B14034) and Inno-
vation Driven Plan of Central South University (No. 2015CX005).
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