Abstract: Effects of different soil amendments (montmorillonite, rice straw and chicken manure) on the characters of mixed soil (copper mine tailing and garden soil) and on the growth of ryegrass on the soil were studied. The results show that montmorillonite had no significant effect on ryegrass at various growth stages, but rice straw and chicken manure, though inhibitive to ryegrass growth in terms of biomass of the first and second cuttings, increased the yield of the third and fourth cuttings significantly, showing enormous residual effect, which is mainly due to their slow decomposition in soils. Earthworms can only grow in soil with rice straw applied at a suitable rate. No obvious difference in soil phosphatase was observed between treatments except for the one, which was suitable for growth of earthworm. Rice straw and chicken manure increased urease activity. The treatments using rice straw decreased the quantity of available metals in soil, but the ones using chicken manure increased available metal concentration, suggesting that it must be careful in using chicken manure, containing large amounts of metals, as organic fertilizer. 

Key words: mine tailing, ryegrass, heavy metal, amendment, montmorillonite, rice straw, chicken manure