Vegetation reconstruction is the most direct biological measure and the most effective one as well to control soil and water losses from dump slopes of an opencast coal mine. The knowledge of spatial distribution variability of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) contents in the dump slope as affected by revegetation pattern is essential to selection of proper vegetation patterns that fit the dump slope. The study area was set in the Heidaigou opencast coal mine in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where the dump slopes had been under management for 15 years, using 4 revegetation patterns (natural recovery land, grassland, shrub land, woodland). A total of 270 soil profiles (0~100 cm) were collected as samples for analysis of variability of SOC storage as affected by revegetation pattern. Results show as follows: (1) Revegetation patterns significantly affected SOC and TN contents and their distribution in the soil profile (p<0.05). In terms of SOC and TN contents in the 0~10 cm and 10~20 cm soil layers, the four revegetation patterns displayed an order of grassland > shrub land > woodland > natural recovery land, while in terms of SOC and TN contents in the soil layers below 20 cm, a similar trend could be found, but the differences between the four narrowed with increasing soil depth. (2) In terms of SOC density and storage, an order of undisturbed land > managed watershed> managed dump > new dump was found. After 15 years of revegetation, the dump slopes demonstrated a tremendous carbon sequestration capacity. The SOC storage in the 1 m soil layers of the woodland and grassland was 5.38 t hm^-2 and 11.85 t hm^-2, respectively, higher than that in the new dump, but only reached 1/2 and 3/5 of that in the undisturbed land. (3) The carbon sequestration rate of the woodland and grassland was 35.87 g m^-2 a^-1 and 79.01 g m^-2 a^-1, respectively. The latter was 2.2 times of the former. From the perspective of soil organic carbon sequestration and soil erosion control, grassland is the priority revegetation pattern recommended for management of dump slopes of opencast coal mines and followed by shrub land.