Copper is not only a nutrient element for plant growth, but also a pollutant in environment. Copper mining is one of the most important sources of soil Cu pollution. A study was carried out on environmental status of heavy metals in Jiuhua Cu Orefield, which is located east to Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. Results showed that about half of the soil samples contained Cu well above the 3^rd Grade Criteria of the Soil Environmental Quality Standard of China in concentration, and the mean vaule of DTPA extracted soil Cu was 117 mg/kg. Soil Cu is highly and positively correlated with soil Zn, Pb, Cd and Co (P<0.01), but not with Cr or Ni, suggesting that the soils in the region are also polluted by these metals. About 57.3% of the soil samples had comprehensive pollution index (PI)>1.0. A survey of crops in the mining area also showed that Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr concentrations in the edible parts of the crops were quite high.