Spoil Amelioration Experiment Thiess Pty. Ltd. Open-cut coal
mine spoil is essentially devoid of biological organisms,
including symbiotic microbes involved in sustainable nutrition.
It is also often deficient in available plant nutrients, can
have extremes of pH and can exhibit surface crusting. In order
to reconstruct a self-sustainable native forest or woodland
ecosystem on spoil requires some amelioration strategies to
produce more favourable plant growth conditions. To determine
whether inoculation of spoil with symbiotic microbes, and the
use of fresh forest topsoil, fertilizer, gypsum or biosolids
(sewage sludge) would overcome adverse spoil properties, to
support the establishment of a selection of native forest
species. Summary of Results Mount Owen mine spoil (Hunter
Valley, NSW, Australia) was found to be primarily deficient in
nitrogen and to a lesser extent phosphorus in supporting
seedling growth of endemic species. These nutrients can be
supplied either through biological interactions with soil