Opencast mining creates disturbance to the ecosystem at all ecological scales: species, ecosystem and landscape level. The novel conditions are overwhelming starting from newly established bedrock and habitat distribution for vegetation dynamics. Usually on post-mining restoration sites develop novel ecosystems as soil conditions are completely new and ecosystem assemblage is spontaneous in the beginning. This study is based on long term monitoring and evaluation of afforested oil shale quarry in Estonia. Afforestation for ecological rehabilitation has been used in Aidu oil shale quarry since early 1960s. Scots pine showed the best afforestation results of these new calcareous sites. During the mining the ground-and rainwater has been continuously extracted from the quarry area. Water extraction from abandoned Aidu quarry has been terminated in 2012 and this leaves the area to the gradually changing water table in the next years. The study is based on chronosequence data of soil and vegetation. After site reclamation soil formation has started and our study shows that soil properties develop towards the common Hepatica and Calamagrostis forest site types. Vegetation of restoration area differs from common forest sites, there are represented dry and wet site specific species as well as poor and fertile type specific species. Forest stand development is similar to Hepatica type forest. Studied novel ecosystems are quite dynamic, changing quickly by disturbances and have not easily predictable development pathways.