Long-term monitoring data on soil restoration on reclaimed dumps of open quarries in the King-isepp area of phosphorite mining are considered. It is shown that the initial soil formation is driven by the processes of organic matter accumulation and mineral weathering. The relationship between the humus formation and vegetation succession stages is revealed. The rate of the initial pedogenesis rapidly decreases within the first decade. The character of the soil-forming processes differs in the areas with peat application and without it.