The objective of this study was to compare the soil seed bank of an area under natural regeneration (F1) and another reforested through seedling planting (F2), seven years after bauxite mining, in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. In each area, 10 sampling points were randomly distributed, using three samples of topsoil to represent each point. The samples were transported to a shade house and evaluated for six months, where emerging individuals were identified every two weeks. In F1, 2,114.94 propagules m-2 were registered, belonging to 51 species and 24 botanical families, H’=2.770 e J’=0.705. In F2, 1,168.62 propagules m-2 were registered, belonging to 42 species and 22 families, H’=2.618 and J’=0.700. The Jaccard index between F1 and F2 was 0.61, indicating a high similarity between the analyzed areas. The results showed high density of propagules, good diversity and absence of ecological dominance. The high similarity between forests is related to geographical proximity, the same topsoil origin (agricultural/pasture) and also to the role of the dispersing fauna. The high number of individuals and diversity of tree species with zoochoric dispersion found in the areas indicate that both natural regeneration and reforestation were efficient in the ecological restoration of bauxite mined areas.