Scientific publications

“Acidic” rains promote a selective leaching from vegetation and soils of the forest ecosystems a series of vital elements, Mg2+, Ca2+, Mn2+ cations in the first place. An effective method of eliminating the adverse effect of ‘acidic' atmospheric precipitation is applying low-cost ameliorating agents which could both replenish the lost elements, improve the soil structure and neutralize excess acidity, and have a prolonged and mild action. Low production costs of the agents can be achieved by involving mining wastes in the production.
We have obtained magnesium-based ameliorating agents by the method of thermal activation of serpentinebearing starting products (magnesium hydrosilicates) and magnesium-based ameliorating agents from olivinebearing sources (magnesium silicates) coupled with acidic treatment. The resulting fertilizers contain MgO from 23 to 40 mass % as well as calcium and manganese. All the components are present in a hard-to-solve in water phase, which means that they are not washed out by rains but are easily extracted to the solution by weak organic acids, thus being accessible for plants.
Pilot testing has shown that thermally activated sungulite effectively enriches the soil with mobile compounds accessible for plants; the concentration of principal nutritious elements in soil solutions is observed to increase; and the soil acidity reliably decreases.