CONTROLLED RELEASE NANOFERTILIZERS FOR INCREASED MYCORRHIZAE

Copyright © 2022 Philip C. Cruver

Current agricultural practices with continued extensive application of conventional fertilizers will not be able to meet the future global demand for food. Bulk application of fertilizers are inherently limited by their low Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE), which is the ability of plants to acquire a nutrient, transport it in roots and remobilize it to other parts of the plant.

For example, the NUEs of major macronutrients are nitrogen (30-35%), phosphorus (18-20%), and potassium (35-40%) revealing that more than half of the applied fertilizers are lost. Fundamentally, low NUEs require higher inputs of bulk fertilizers to maintain agricultural outputs. This ultimately results in runoff of toxic fertilizers distorting the nutrient and food chain balance in ecosystems, causing a variety of environmental problems, including eutrophication of water bodies and soil structure disturbance.

There is also the looming threat of resource scarcity of phosphorus as farmers are using nearly 85% of the world's total mined phosphorus as fertilizer despite that the plants use less than half.  According to a paper published by MIT "Fighting Peak Phosphorus", the world's supply of phosphorus could run out within the next 80 years having a devastating impact on agricultural productivity.

Low NUEs are typically the result of higher release rate of fertilizers than the absorption rate by plants, and the transformation of nutrients to forms that are not bioavailable to crops. As such, there is great interest in developing innovative fertilizers to increase NUEs using nanoparticles that may influence metabolic activities of the plant to mobilize native nutrients (such as phosphorus) in the rhizosphere. Given the unique properties of nanomaterials, incorporation of nanotechnology into the design and use of efficient fertilizers has huge potential.

Nanofertilizers are nutrient carriers of nano dimensions approximating one-billionth of a meter. Due to their high surface area, they can hold abundant nutrient ions and release them slowly and steadily, commensurate with crop demand. Nanofertilizers are easily uptaken and assimilated by the plants because of their ease of solubility, stability, and controlled release in time.

The advantage of using nanocarriers to deliver nutrients instead of using nanomaterials made of nutrients is that the carrier or delivery platform can be a material that is safe to users, environmentally benign, and compatible with growth media, plants, and other organisms. Another advantage for using nanocarriers is that the fertilizers can then be formulated or “tuned” to release nutrients in a prescribed and controlled manner predicated on the plant species and composition of the local soil. Controlled release fertilizers could prolong nutrient longevity for effectively maintaining a continuous supply for crops over a longer growth period with less environmental damage.

Of the six types of nanostructured materials capable of being nutrient carriers, nanoclays contain the widest range of beneficial materials. Nanoclays are defined as layered silicates with bi-dimensional platelets of nanoscale thickness (frequently ~ 1 nm) and a length of several micrometers. Nanoclays hold the potential to sustain nutrients for long periods of time, enhance plant growth, improve NUE, balance nutrient supply, and minimize environmental contamination.

When plants live in challenging desert locations, they develop mechanisms to help them survive. These include morphological characteristics such as thickened, small, or narrow leaves to reduce water loss, slowing the plant's growth rate, or developing a tolerance for high salts and low levels of nutrients. One important set of survival mechanisms involves creating mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationships between plant roots and soil-borne organisms such as bacteria and fungi. 

The associations between roots and fungi are called mycorrhizae. These symbiotic arrangements have been found in about 90% of all land plants and have been around for approximately 400 million years. Plant roots are hospitable sites for the fungi to anchor and produce their threads (hyphae). The roots provide essential nutrients for the growth of the fungi. In return, the large mass of fungal hyphae acts as a virtual root system for the plants, increasing the amount of water and nutrients that the plant may obtain from the surrounding soil. A plant that forms an association benefiting both the fungus and the plant is a "host." Large numbers of native desert plants are hosts to these fungi and would not survive without them.

In a 2014 issue of Mother Earth News articulates the amazing underground secret of mycorrhizae: "Although we think of fungi being most at home in deep, dank forests, they’re surprisingly abundant in open shrublands and prairies, too. The outer walls of hyphae contain gluey compounds that cause fine particles of earth to clump together on and around the threads. This process is a major factor in building soil structure and making the ground less vulnerable to erosion. Mycelial networks also play a valuable role in sequestering carbon within microclusters of filaments. They limit their partner plants’ exposure to heavy metals, such as lead, zinc and cadmium, by keeping those elements bound to the hyphae’s sticky sheath. At high latitudes and high altitudes, mycorrhizal fungi scrounge nutrients from cold, rocky soils. In boggy regions, the hyphae buffer plant partners from the high acid content of peaty soils. In saline ground, the hyphae help safeguard their partners from high salt concentrations. Mycorrhizae can also protect plants from pests and diseases".

Technologies are being developed for the controlled release of nanofertilizers and increased mycorrhizae. Since the production and implementation of nanofertilizers are still at an early stage, any discovery in new innovative technologies to enhance agriculture productivity and supply the necessary nutrients would be a landmark in nanotechnology research for launching the next Green Revolution

REGENERATIVE BIOMASS FARMS TRANSFORMING THE SALTON SEA REGION

Copyright © 2022 Philip C. Cruver

Paulownia is a hardy tree that can be cultivated on marginal lands and has superior environmental and economic benefits for commercial, afforestation and bioremediation applications. This fast-growing tree is known for its exceptional ability to stabilize and restore highly eroded and contaminated land and is tolerant to harsh desert conditions, requiring minimal water and fertilizers. Moreover, Paulownia's large fuzzy leaves could serve as natural dust suppression to mitigate the harmful health conditions produced by increased toxic playa exposure from the receding Salton Sea and could also serve as habitat for the 375 species of migratory birds that visit the Salton Sea Region on their Pacific Flyway journeys.

As a woody nitrogen fixing species, Paulownia can play a valuable role in agroecological systems by converting atmospheric nitrogen to useable soil nutrients which would improve yield and productivity. Recent research of Paulownia’s nitrogen fixation rates, compared to synthetic ammonia fertilizer, showed in the first 10 years of a plantation system the uptake of nitrogen in a system with 445 trees per acre maximized at 500 pounds per acre per year and averaged 251 pounds per acre per year.

Trees used to bioremediate contaminated soils, known as "phytoremediation," offer promising economic and environmental advantages. Paulownia, possessing a deep root system and high tolerance for heavy metals, is highly suitable for the phytoremediation of contaminated soils according to experiments by researchers in Italy.

Therefore, the agroforestry benefits of Paulownia benefiting the Coachella Valley Agriculture Industry by increasing the carbon and nitrogen fixing and providing ecosystem services are promising.   

Furthermore, there are two more benefits of Paulownia inherent in the term "Timber & Carbon Farms".  As the fastest growing deciduous tree, Paulownia can produce as much timber volume as an oak in a tenth of the time. Moreover, while other trees can only be harvested once, Paulownia trees sprout back after being coppiced for harvesting every 5 years.

The other benefit is sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and soil. A single Paulownia tree can bind up to 77 pounds of CO2 from the atmosphere every year. This is up to 16 tons per acre - four times the CO2 capacity of a mixed forest which is attributed to its large leaves, which can reach a diameter of up to 4 feet. The CO2 remains bound in the wood making a lasting contribution to climate protection.

Paulownia trees require about 500,000 gallons of water per acre and the ideal planting scheme is 300 trees per acre. Therefore, a Paulownia Timber & Carbon Farm would require about 1.5-acre feet of water or about one-half the average California crop.

There are two other plants with potential for developing regenerative biomass farms for the Coachella Valley. Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet reaching up to 36 inches in a day and its biomass can produce numerous sustainable and valuable products. In addition to lumber and pulp for paper and textiles, bamboo is emerging as a leading biomass for producing renewable biofuels. Moringa is the second fastest growing tree on the planet and called the "Miracle Tree" because it provides 7 times more vitamin C than oranges, 10 times more vitamin A than carrots, 17 times more calcium than milk, 9 times more protein than yoghurt, 15 times more potassium than bananas and 25 times more iron than spinach.

My previous blog, Sand to Soil ™ introduced the potential of bentonite clay for transforming desert soil into rich farmland. As a soil amendment, bentonite treatments have the potential to convert thousands of acres of marginal land in the Coachella Valley to productive biomass farms. Catalina BioTech has partnered with the Japan International Research Center for Agriculture Sciences (JIRCUS) to verify and validate the potential of biomass farms for regenerating the Salton Sea environmental battleground.

JIRCUS is a leading institution with extensive experience conducting pilot projects documenting the effect of bentonite for improving soil in silviculture and biomass applications. A team of JIRCUS scientists conducted research on teak seedlings (an important timber species) using bentonite and fertilizer on 2,016 square meters (1/2 acre) of sandy soil in Thailand from July 2014 to November 2015. They compared the growth, biomass, photosynthetic rate, leaf water potential, and concentration of elements in the plant organs among four treatments: control, fertilizer, bentonite and bentonite and fertilizer. The unique and important factor with this pilot project was the planted 520 teak seedlings were clones produced from tissue culture, thus, removing genetics as a variable.

The scientific results of this pilot project were published December 2020 in Forests, a peer-reviewed journal of forestry and forest ecology confirming: 1) Bentonite had high retentivity of phosphorus in fertilizer for mitigating leaching and groundwater pollution. 2) Teak seedlings absorbed nutrients efficiently with the application of bentonite and fertilizer. 3) There was greater accumulation of potassium in roots with the application of bentonite. 4) The soil calcium concentration increased, and teak seedlings did not show a calcium deficiency without application of calcium.

The research also showed that water availability was increased and drought stress in the teak seedlings was mitigated with the application of bentonite. Based on the positive effects with the concurrent use of bentonite and fertilizer, teak seedlings showed markedly growth acceleration. In contrast, a single use of bentonite did not clearly accelerate the growth of teak seedlings because of the effect of phosphorus deficiency. The single use of fertilizer increased biomass and nutrients in the plant organs; however, the photosynthetic rate was decreased, and drought stress ensued. As a result, the use of fertilizer alone showed high mortality, and did not promote marked growth acceleration.

With a modicum of positive results, as compared to the benefits of bentonite as a soil amendment documented in China, bentonite as a soil amendment, has the potential for the Salton Sea Region to become the future "Biomass Capital of California".

REGENERATING FATIGUED SOIL AND CONSERVING WATER RESOURCES

Copyright © 2022 Philip C. Cruver

A landmark 2004 University of Texas study compared vegetables grown today to those in the 1950s and found declines of 5% to 40% in certain nutrients among 43 types of produce. Terrestrial food production is losing its nutritional value and taste to the preponderance of agricultural practices designed to improve traits such as size, growth rate, and pest resistance.

Noticeable nutrient decline began after the Green Revolution in the 1950s and 60s when farmers were introduced to practices for increasing yields using chemical fertilizers. American farmers, who produce most of the food to feed the planet's burgeoning population, annually spend over $23.5 billion on fertilizer. Scientists researching these practices discovered that while these techniques increase the quantity of food grown, the increased yield also comes with a decrease in vital nutrients and minerals known as the “dilution effect.” Over the past 50 years the nutrient content of soil has been depleted by these intensive farming practices making the content of the plants grown less nutritious.

Soil nutrient depletion is a result of aggressive growing practices that focus on chemical inoculated crops that accelerate plant growth but produce poor nutrient values in their yields. This process is repeated over and over compounding the problem without returning appropriate sustenance to the soil.  Even organic certified food that may be relatively free of toxins can be deficient in essential minerals and trace elements.

Use of conventional chemical fertilizers has contributed to depletion of vital nutrients in food crops, soil acidification and degradation, reliance on toxic pesticides and herbicides, eutrophication of oceans, and adverse climate changes.

The global ecological food web, known as the consumer-resource system, has become seriously compromised because of "shitty soil" having the following characteristics: surface compaction preventing rainwater from entering the soil; acidity adversely affecting pH which reduces beneficial microorganisms and earthworms (great aerators and conditioners of the soil); and, most importantly, damage to the plant's root mycorrhizae fungi.

Help is on the way with natural minerals and bioproducts intended to restore soil structure, increase plant yields, neutralize toxic contaminants, protect the ecological food web, and replenish vital nutrients. The products are all natural combinations of macro and trace minerals, microorganisms, carbon-based substances and other biostimulants that promote nutritional and energetic health for regenerating soils.

As revealed in a previous blog, Sand to Soil ™ , international field tests conducted using bentonite clay as a soil amendment, significantly increased crop yield and reduced irrigation water requirements. The field tests also indicated that bentonite is a natural mineral for reducing and containing toxic fertilizers that are increasingly depleting soil nutrients and leaching into groundwater and as polluting runoff into lakes, rivers, and oceans.

So why hasn't America's massive agriculture industry created a program for conducting validation tests across the country? Particularly California, with a land footprint over 100 million acres and about 26 million classified as farmland by the USDA that are threatened by draught and environmental water issues.

California is confronted with a draught crisis that could become disastrous for its massive statewide agricultural industry. The Coachella Valley, in my backyard, ranks 14th of the 58 counties in California with a gross value of agricultural crops produce in 2020 at $1.3 billion. Agricultural activities, not including just the farm production but also direct and indirect employment, contributed about $3.9 billion to the local economy.

A study by UC Davis revealed that a particularly acute threat affecting the productivity of the agricultural and in the western San Joaquin Valley is the issue of soil salinity. Given the sheer volume of water delivered to this vast farmland that accounts for about 84 percent of California's $50 billion agriculture, an estimated 1.6 million tons of salt are applied to the land annually.

Additional crop production on fallow marginal land has the potential to increase the California economy with the promise of increased profits from higher yield and lower water consumption, encouraging new business in vegetables, edible crops and less water-intensive crops for biomass and carbon credits. On average, California crops use 2.97-acre feet of water per acre per year. One acre foot is equal to about 326,000 gallons, or enough water to cover an acre of land 1 foot deep. 

The price of California water is a complex and dynamic puzzle presenting a huge risk for farmers since agricultural water can range from as low as $1 per acre-foot and can reach $500-$1,000 and more in times of water stress. According to the Water Market Insider, some farmers paid prices of $2,200 per acre-foot to irrigate high-value crops.

Water transfers through the labyrinth of canals and are rife with politics.  According to Bloomberg Markets, "The Imperial Irrigation District, a public agency, maintains the canals and other infrastructure and charges $20 an acre-foot to cover costs. San Diego, by contrast, pays $624 an acre-foot, according to a pricing formula in the 2003 agreement. These days, any water available at $624 an acre-foot would be snapped up fast".

A 10% increase in crop yield for California's $50 Billion agriculture industry would is an impressive $5 billion and consider the additional benefits of collective carbon sequestration and nasty nitrogen reduction bonus points. A 10% reduction in water consumption on California's 26 million acres of farmland at a price of $500 per acre-foot would amount to $1.3 billion 

Regenerating fatigued soil for producing higher and more nutritious yields while conserving precious water resources, what's not to like?

Copyright © 2022 Philip C. Cruver

Sustainable, renewable, and versatile: It’s hard to find a better building material than wood and there is a new concept for this natural material to be innovatively engineered into a construction solution disrupting the cement and steel industries. The existential climate crisis demands innovative and bold action - Mass Timber promises a solution.

First developed in Europe in the 1990s, Mass Timber involves cross-layering softwood boards and bonding them with glue, nails, dowels or other adhesives to maximize strength. Mass timber is best suited for low-to mid-rise construction, such as multifamily residences and commercial or institutional buildings that would otherwise be built with concrete and steel.

The global market for the most popular Mass Timber technology is cross-laminated timber (CLT) which exceeded $660 million in 2018.  CLT demand is projected to grow by over 13% annually into the mid-2020s.  Europe accounts for 60% of the market although a dozen Mass Timber manufacturing facilities have opened in North America in the last decade. The US has constructed or started design on nearly 800 mass timber buildings.

By 2025, Mass Timber is expected to account for $1.4 billion of the $14 trillion global construction industry.  With current growth rates, Mass Timber would account for a 0.5% of new urban buildings by 2050. With concerted investment in global manufacturing capacity and building projects for Mass Timber, its share of the construction market could rise exponentially by 2050, capturing trillions in value.

The first certified producer of Mass timber opened a plant in Oregon in 2015 and the states of Washington and Oregon were the first to adopt new building codes that allow for eight, 12 and 14 story buildings with Mass Timber. California is expected to adopt similar changes as the International Building Code adds its own provisions to increase seismic durability by up to 100% for buildings over 85 feet.

Mass Timber wood components are fabricated in an automated factory to precise specifications for fast assembly on site reducing months from the construction time. It’s more predictable than concrete and construction during cold weather eliminates the temperature tolerances of concrete construction. It’s stronger than steel, lighter, and has greater insulation and fireproof properties. 

The driving force for the Mass Timber market will be the climate change crisis and new regulations and economic incentives for decarbonization. There is an estimated 0.023 tons of carbon offset for every building that uses Mass Timber instead of steel or concrete; and 0.0047 net tons of carbon is sequestered by Mass Timber for every square foot of a building.

Moreover, architects, manufacturers, and environmentalists, are promoting the transition of global commercial construction from a massive source of carbon emissions into a giant carbon sink by replacing concrete and steel construction with Mass Timber. This would avoid the CO2 generated in the production of those building materials and sequester massive amounts of carbon by tying up the wood in buildings for decades or perhaps in perpetuity. 

Since Mass Timber weighs 20% of a concrete building, the gravitational load is vastly reduced requiring minimal foundations rather than putting massive amounts of concrete in the ground. With a timber core, timber walls and timber floor slabs there is a significant reduction in the amount of steel required for construction.

An article appearing in Fortune Magazine "From Concrete to Steel, how construction makes up the ‘last mile’ of decarbonization", according to the International Energy Agency, between the energy they consume and their construction, buildings are responsible for nearly 40% of the world's emissions.

Trees sequester and store an immense quantity of CO2 in their cellulosic structures. Mass Timber for constructing buildings has many benefits compared to concrete including its double impact on carbon dioxide reduction:

1. It replaces a large CO2 emitter (concrete) thus improving the carbon balance.

2. It also stores massive quantities of carbon above ground. One kilogram of hard wood, depending on type, stores 1.5-2 kg of carbon dioxide. One cubic meter of Mass Timber would store 1-1.5 tons of CO2.

3. It is lightweight, cost effective, installed rapidly and versatile.

4. Wood surface can be more easily modified than that of concrete.

The novel nature of Mass Timber has spurred testing and improvement for a variety of factors including resistance to fire, earthquake (seismic activity), wind and other typical building issues such as acoustics and vibrations. The results have been quite promising leading to the growing use of Mass Timber in Europe and a seven-story building has been subjected to multiple seismic events without suffering any damage.

Intuitively, fire may worry people about Mass Timber. In reality, however, thick sections of wood like Mass Timber are quite difficult to ignite due to flame resistant char that forms when wood to subjected to flame. Furthermore, flame retardant agents may be applied to Mass Timber to suppress flammability. Mass Timber is far more resistant to fire than the current US homes and non-residential buildings constructed from thin wood planks and flammable resins and plastics

There is also a movement to develop dedicated Timber & Carbon Farms on marginal lands in Southern California for creating a local lumber industry from fast growing regenerative trees to assure a future sustainable supply for the emerging Mass Timber market.

Copyright © 2022 Philip C. Cruver

While researching Southern California's water resources and its impact on the agriculture industry, I became intrigued about the potential of bentonite clay for transforming desert soil into rich farmland. Recently published research papers herald the benefits of bentonite as an amendment for desert soil in scientific field trials undertaken in Australia, Uganda, Thailand, Czech Republic, and more countries across the globe.  

What really got my attention was an article published in the October 2020 issue of the prestigious scientific journal Nature. It provides empirical scientific data showing the beneficial effects of bentonite as a soil amendment for increasing crop growth and water conservation in arid regions of China. The field test commenced in 2011 by a team of scientists from Canada and China concluded that the "optimum rate of bentonite was 24 Mg-1 ha for all plant growth". Translating science-speak, this amounts to about 4.5 tons per acre. Bentonite clay is found all over the world in large quantities, it is easy to mine and process hence is relatively inexpensive with a price of about $100 per ton.

The results of the other research papers echoed similar positive results and documented that when bentonite is applied to desert sand the fertility is significantly increased resulting in higher crop yield while also retaining water more effectively.

Amazingly, I did not find any applied research, or pilot projects, about bentonite as a soil amendment for agriculture being conducted in the United States!  Even the 2008 USGS chart (Figure 1) does not include agriculture as an "end use" for bentonite production.

The United States is the largest producer and consumer of bentonite and my discussions with senior management at the major bentonite producing companies revealed that increased agriculture yield and water conservation is a new and novel market for this $1.4 billion industry.

According to a February 14, 2022, report in Nature Climate Change, the current megadrought in the American Southwest has broken previous records for the extant driest 22-year period for the region in 1,200 years. One would think that California would take a leadership role in this emerging market since deserts make up about 25% of the state's total surface area and this re-emerging drought is placing unprecedented strain on its water resources threatening agricultural production. California is America's fruit and vegetable cornucopia producing over a third of the vegetables and two-third of the country's fruits and nuts for generating over $49 billion in cash receipts in 2020.

What is bentonite?

Bentonite usually forms from the weathering of volcanic ash, most often in the presence of water. Geologically it is a type of clay mineral mainly composed of montmorillonite that can absorb large amounts of water. Extracted bentonite is distinctly solid with a moisture content of approximately 30%. After being crushed it is subsequently dried to reach a moisture content of approximately 15%.  Depending on the final application, bentonite is either sieved into granular form or milled into powder.

There are several types of this "clay with 1,000 uses" but sodium and calcium bentonite are the most in demand. Sodium bentonite can hold 15-20 times its weight in water and is used primarily as "mud" for drilling oil, sealing ponds, and used in cat litter. Calcium bentonite only holds 1-5 times its weight in water and is used in gardening as it is more stable and adds beneficial things to the soil as compared to sodium (salt) bentonite. Bentonite stores and releases water much easier than other types of clays and has hundreds to thousands of times more surface area than sand particles hence it improves nutrient holding capacity of soils and helps provide a better environment for soil microorganisms.

Bentonite structure and chemistry lesson

Sand particles are quite large with a smooth surface and a small surface area. Clay is the opposite and composed of tiny particles with a huge surface area compared to sand. As an analogy, imagine a basketball as a grain of sand and consider its outer surface area. Now consider how many golf balls would take up about the same space. According to the USDA, "clay particles may have thousands of times more surface area per gram than silt particles and nearly a million times more surface area than very coarse sand particles". Soil particles have tiny micropores on their surface which fill with water and sand particles have larger pores, but due to the smaller surface area, cannot hold as much water. Because of this 'surface area' phenomena, clay soils hold between three and six times the amount of water that the same volume of sandy soil holds.

To create a healthy, living soil it needs organic matter.  This can be in the form of animal manures, compost, straw, etc.  It needs to be broking down to feed soil microbes, which make the nutrients contained in the organic material available for plants. 

Organic matter is made up of plant and animal residues in various stages of decomposition.  The final stage - and most long lasting is humus, which is the residues of micro-organism activity, and is the most stable form of organic matter lasting thousands of years.  All forms of organic material (decomposing to humus) are important additions to soil to feed micro-organisms.  It is these creatures in their activity and life cycle which make nutrients in the organic matter available to plants.  Under a microscope, humus is like a porous sponge holding onto water and nutrients, making them available to plants as required, and helps prevent leaching of nutrients.

Organic matter also significantly improves soil structure, allowing the penetration of air and water for soil roots to grow into voids created around pieces of organic material. A range of particle sizes is ideal for plant roots to grow.  Lots of nooks and crannies created by big particles, with gaps in between them filled with small particles, creates pockets of air and water that plants need to thrive. Too many large sand particles allow water to flow straight through and too many small clay particles cause compaction and crusting. Ideal soil has a range of particle sizes and is generally referred to as loam.

Clay and humus, because of their electrical 'charge', hold onto nutrients in a way that sand cannot.  Plant roots can remove these nutrients from clay and humus particles with a process called cation (pronounced cat-iron) exchange, and a high Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) is the "secret sauce" for retaining nutrients in soil to mitigate leaching through with the water.

The clay mineral and organic matter components of soil have negatively charged sites on their surfaces which adsorb and hold positively charged ions (cations) by electrostatic force. This electrical charge is critical to the supply of nutrients to plants because many nutrients exist as cations (e.g., magnesium, potassium, and calcium). In general terms, soils with large quantities of negative charge are more fertile because they retain more cations  

Mining and Processing 

Bentonite is usually extracted by surface mining with bulldozers removing the overburden material above the clay which is then stockpiled. After the clay has been extracted from the pit, the overburden, subsoil, and topsoil are replaced, and the surface is contoured to blend with the surrounding terrain and drainage is reestablish throughout the area.  With this technique, it is not uncommon for a pit to be opened, closed, and seeded within a year.

Reclaimed mine areas are monitored until self-sustaining plant communities have been established and the reclamation goals have been met. In many cases, well-planned and well-executed reclamation has improved habitat for wildlife, compared to pre-mining conditions. Creative ways in which this can be achieved include using topsoil-rich areas to assist in reclaiming topsoil-poor areas and creating local ponds and wetlands where none previously existed.

Following removal from the site, bentonite is hauled to a processing plant and stockpiled by quality. At the plant, clays of different qualities are frequently blended during processing to achieve more consistent product quality. The specific processing methods employed depend both on the nature of the crude bentonite and its intended end use. In general, processing is designed to maximize the dispersibility of the clay, increase its surface area, alter its surface chemical properties and, in some cases, increase its montmorillonite content. These goals, and thus the steps to achieve them, are often interrelated.

As an inveterate entrepreneur, I sense a huge opportunity for transforming fallow deserts into fertile farmland and tree farms with bentonite as a soil amendment and have dubbed this scheme as "Sand to Soil" ™.