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Calcium Carbonate - A solvable Bait formed from the dissolution of cal- <br />cite by C02. CaC03 tends to neutralize acid formation in over- <br />burden materials when present. Optimum CaC03 in soils is gener- <br />ally <15% (Merritt 1983). Suitable CaC03 values are generally <br /><30%. Actual spoil values ranged From .2 to 15.8% (z = 5.8). <br />Organic Matter - Matter composed of once living organisms and is com- <br />prised of carbon compounds. Generally organic matter content in <br />topsoil of western mining areas ranges from 1-5% (Smith et al 1987). <br />Actual organic matter content on mine spoils ranged from .4 to 7.OY, <br />(z = 3.8). <br />Nitrate - Nitrate is that nitrogen in the soil that is available for <br />plant uptake and is seldom more than 1-2% of the total N present <br />(Brady 1974). Merritt (1983) reported >10-20 ppm NQ3-N as suspect <br />levels. Soltanpour (1985) reported N03-N between 0-10 ppm as low. <br />Actual spoil analysis at Trapper ranged from 1 to 40 ppm (x = <br />7.8). <br />Phosphorus - Essential macronutrient critical to the growth of plants. <br />Soltanpour (1985) expressed a range of P available in soil as 0-11 <br />mg/kg with 0 being the suspect level (Merritt 1983). Actual analy- <br />sis of spoils ranged from a low of .1 to a high of 12.4 (z = 1.8 <br />mg/kg). <br />Potassium - Macronutrient essential for photosynthesis, starch formation <br />and trans location of sugars in plants. Can be present in soils in <br />very large quantities with no harmful effect on the crop. Optimum <br />range is <180 mg/kg (Soltanpour 1985). Actual spoil analysis at <br />Trapper ranged from 26 to 274 mg/kg (z = 111.0). <br />Zinc - A naturally occurring trace metal which is an essential consti- <br />tuent of many enzyme systems. Its role in metabolic processes cri- <br />tical to the development, division, and differentiation of cells is <br />well-established. Suspect concentrations in soils according to <br />Merritt (1983) are >30-40 ppm. Soltanpour (1985) reported high <br />values at >1.5 mg/kg. Safoya etal (1987) reported zinc concentra- <br />tions in native soils ranged from 10 to 300 mg/kg. Zinc concentra- <br />tions at Trapper ranged from .2 to 11.2 ppm (x = 5.4). <br />Iron - Micronutrient required for the formation of chlorophyll in plant <br />cells. Iron deficiency can be induced by high levels of manganese <br />or high lime content in soils. Soltanpour (1985) reported high <br />levels of Fe up to >5 mg/kg. Merritt (1983) reported the suspect <br />Levels of iron were unknown. Trapper spoils ranged from 1.9 to 81.9 <br />PPm (z = 28.5). <br />Manganese - Manganese serves as an activator for enzymes in growth pro- <br />cesses. High manganese concentations may induce iron deficiency. <br />Merritt (1983) reported suspect levels of manganese above 60 ppm. -~ <br />Soltanpour (1985) reported >1.0 mg/kg concentration of Mn as high. i <br />Trapper spoils ranged from .4 to 22.6 ppm (x = 9.7). <br />cont. <br />i <br />