The paper presents the results of monitoring studies of soils in the area of the Kostomuksha State Natural Biosphere
Reserve, the city of Kostomuksha and the Kostomuksha mining and processing plant. The low gross content of all the studied
metals in natural complexes was found. The authors revealed features of the vertical distribution of heavy metal concentrations
over soil horizons. A sharp increase in the concentrations of most of the elements studied was found in all soil horizons in the
urban zone and on the territory of the plant. For a number of metals, there is a change in the nature of the distribution over the
horizons in comparison with background soils.