Understanding the trajectory of changes in substrate physicochemical properties is critical for revegetation of mine tailings. The study tracked changes of selected physicochemical properties as proxies of pedogenesis over time and across different topographic positions on a chronosequence of six abandoned gold tailings (10, 17, 35, 82, 92 and 110 years) compared to soils from reference areas. The hypotheses were: (1) plant macronutrients: total and mineral nitrogen (N), plant available phosphorus (P), potassium (K), organic carbon (OC) and fine particle content significantly increase with substrate age and approach that of natural reference soils, (2) substrate pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and bulk density decrease with tailings age, (3) topography (relief) and depth had significant effect on the tailings properties. Substrate samples were collected from four depths (0-5 cm; 5-15 cm, 100 cm and 300 cm) on the tops, upper and lower slope positions of the tailings dumps and two reference sites 200 m and 2 km away. Total N and available P significantly increased with dump age matching reference conditions in the top 5 cm on the oldest (110 years) dump. Organic carbon(OC) and pH initially significantly declined between the disposal time (0 years) and 10 years but fluctuated thereafter. Bulk density significantly decreased with tailings age. Texture and EC did not significantly vary with dump age. Slope position (relief) had significant effect (p < 0.05) on total N, available P, and EC. Available P and EC increased from the dump top to the base while total N fluctuated. Total N significantly decreased with depth and was highest in the 0-5 cm layer. The interactive effect of dump age and slope position was significant for EC only. A PCA based on all measured parameters showed higher similarity of the older dumps (82-110-years) to the two reference sites. Overall, the results suggest that more than 110 years are required for macronutrients on gold mine tailings to match reference conditions while the other parameters require shorter periods and fluctuate above and below reference conditions. Nevertheless, changes in tailings properties appeared to be correlated to dynamics in vegetation and biological crusts that were observed to increase in cover with substrate age.