“…Establishing vegetative cover on coal-mine spoil is challenging for a variety of reasons, including compaction, poor WHC, poor fertility, high acidity or salinity, nutrient deficiency, the presence of heavy metals at phytotoxic concentrations, extreme temperatures, water logging, accelerated runoff erosion and pyritic oxidation leading to the formation of sulphuric acid (Perkins, 1996). These and other factors can interfere with the goal of restoration, which is usually to develop a sustainable ecosystem that is reflective of, if not identical to, the pre-mining native environment (Chambers et al, 1994).…”