Soil & Rehabilitation

Dr Garry P aterson

2016

Physical, chemical and microbiological analysis of 257 unmined, stockpile and rehabilitated soil samples from four Witbank opencast mines, plus a pot trial on amendments, for soil handling planning.

What this report foundStockpiling degraded every soil property measured across four Witbank area mines. Clay content of topsoil and subsoil rose by 50 to 60 per cent, surface bulk...

Two annual surveys of species composition, biomass and soil sampling inside and outside fenced plots on rehabilitated pasture at an opencast colliery near Ogies, with benchmark sites for comparison.

What this report foundGrazing pressure on the rehabilitated block ran at roughly three times the estimated carrying capacity.