3.3.1 Total major elemental oxides
Total major and minor elemental compositions (expressed as elemental
oxides) as measured by XRF of selected layers of tailing, spoil and
native soil profiles are given in Tables 2 and 3. The composition of
major elemental oxides of tailing showed much higher
SiO2 content (86-96%) than the native soils (68-76%).
The exception for the topsoil of TBB3 spoil profile contained much less
SiO2 (43%) associated with some native topsoil
containing 15% clay. In tailings, the oxides of potential major
nutrients for crops such as Ca, Mg, K, P, S were very low in each soil
layer (< 0.2% altogether), indicating these nutrients are
major problems in post-tin mining reclamation.