## 1 Introduction  
Mining operations cover extensive barren surfaces, such as tailings storage facilities, working benches, and dump sites. These are highly susceptible to wind erosion and lead to fugitive dust emissions, harming the environment, workforce, and surrounding communities [1; 2; 3; 4; 5]. Thus, those who own mine sites are challenged to act and implement effective dust control strategies. While the revegetation of such areas is not an operationally feasible option during the mine's production phase, the application of dust suppressants constitutes a proven mitigation method. However, while traditional commercial suppressants such as chloride salts, petroleum-based products, or polymers are effective, they are often costly, can have adverse environmental effects [6; 7], may not be degradable, and their toxicity and potential health effects are largely unknown [8]. Thus, there is a need for environmentally benign, cost-effective, readily available, and easy-to-use alternatives. Research on environmentally benign dust control and anti-desertification measures has gained increased attention in recent years and has mainly focused on biopolymers [9; 10; 11; 12; 13],-food processing by-products and wastes [14; 15; 16; 17], and enzyme or microbial-induced carbonate precipitates (EICP and MICP) [18; 19; 20]. Although EICP and MICP have shown high effectiveness and durability, their cultivation, application, and rejuvenation are difficult [21] and may require professional staff. While food processing by-products and wastes have demonstrated potential in several studies [14; 15; 16; 17], their inconsistent composition and dry matter content limit their application potential. On the other hand, biopolymers have displayed potential as dust suppressants (e.g., [10; 12; 20; 22; 23; 24]) and can constitute an environmentally benign, bio-based, biodegradable, and easy to use alternative to established dust suppressants. However, previous research primarily focused on polysaccharide biopolymers native to tropical and arid climates (e.g., guar, Persian, acacia, and locust bean gum, or pectin) [10; 12; 22], while research on polysaccharides and especially proteins that can be cultivated in continental climate remains underrepresented [9]. Furthermore, there is a lack of studies that aim to identify cost-effective application parameters suitable for first field tests, which are needed for bridging the gap between laboratory experiments and large-scale field testing. In a recent study conducted by [PERSON] et al. [9], the dust suppressant potential of 14 polysaccharides and proteins from diverse botanical (corn, pea, wheat, cellulose, potato, and fava bean) and animal (pig, chicken, and cow) sources was demonstrated by laboratory tests, establishing the moisture retention, penetration resistance, and crust thickness of biopolymer-treated soil samples. While these methods are established screening techniques [10; 23; 25], they only offer an indirect indication of a substance's potential as a dust suppressant. For direct measurements of the wind erosion resistance of a biopolymer-treated soil, laboratory wind tunnel tests constitute an established method [10; 26] and enable comparisons of the effectiveness of different biopolymer types, application rates (L/m\({}^{2}\)), and concentrations (wt%). Thus, wind tunnel studies are required to further evaluate the dust suppression potential of selected polysaccharides and proteins and determine suitable field application parameters. This study investigated the wind erosion and penetration resistance of soil samples treated with different biopolymer types, concentrations (wt%) and application rates (L/m\({}^{2}\)) by performing laboratory wind tunnel and penetrometer tests on two different mine soils. In the first experimental phase, the effect of the biopolymer concentration on the samples' wind erosion resistance and crust strength was investigated.