Rehabilitation of mined land intends to support food and biomass production, with open cut mines required to return the land to a safe, stable and productive state in Queensland, Australia. The aim of this investigation was to assess the potential for soil that was previously farmed, then mined and rehabilitated to support pasture for commercial cattle production. The study was focussed on abiotic properties of the rehabilitated soils, in comparison to properties of a range of unmined soil profiles supporting pastures within the immediate vicinity. Three hypotheses were tested: 1) the abiotic properties of rehabilitated soils would fall within the range of those from nearby unmined soils; 2) that rehabilitated soils would support viable pasture production; and 3) that the mine-spoil would restrict root function. The mine was situated near Acland, Queensland, with rehabilitated land sown to pasture 1, 3 and 6 years prior to the initiation of the study in 2013. The investigation followed these rehabilitated sites, in comparison to a Control site, and 18 proximal unmined sites, through a five year period. All sites were used to support cattle grazing, with soil nutrients, structural condition and pasture growth (8 sites) monitored. Evidence from pasture production and root exploration obtained through soil pit investigations demonstrated that the mine spoil was capable of supporting root growth beyond the replaced soil layer. There were few differences between the Control and rehabilitated sites with regard to benefits or constraints to pasture production, with exception that two rehabilitated sites had simillar or higher plant-available phosphorus and nitrogen. It was concluded that: 1) abiotic properties of rehabilitated soils fell within the range of unmined soils; 2) viable pasture production was achieved from the rehabilitated sites; and 3) both the replaced soil layer and the mine spoil supported root exploration and pasture production.

矿区的恢复旨在支持粮食和生物质的生产，需要露天开采的矿山才能使土地恢复到澳大利亚昆士兰州的安全，稳定和生产状态。这项调查的目的是评估以前种植的土壤的潜力，然后对其进行开采和修复以支持牧场的商业化生产。该研究的重点是修复后的土壤的非生物特性，与支持附近牧场的一系列未开采的土壤剖面的特性相比。测试了三个假设：1）修复土壤的非生物特性将落在附近未开采土壤的非生物特性范围内；2）恢复的土壤将支持可行的牧草生产；3）地雷会限制根系功能。该矿位于阿克兰附近，昆士兰州在2013年开始研究之前，分别将修复过的土地播种到牧场1、3和6年。与对照地区和18个未开采的近端土地相比，调查进行了五年，对这些修复过的土地进行了调查。所有地点都用于支持牛放牧，并监测了土壤养分，结构状况和牧场生长（8个地点）。牧场生产和通过土坑调查获得的根系勘探证据表明，矿渣能够支持根系生长，使其取代被替换的土壤层。对照和恢复原产地在牧场生产的收益或限制方面几乎没有区别，除了两个恢复原产地具有相似或更高的植物可利用的磷和氮。结论是：1）恢复土壤的非生物特性属于未开采土壤的范围；2）从恢复后的地点获得了可行的牧草生产；3）更换的土壤层和矿渣都支持根系勘探和牧草生产。