A rapid,simple and lowcost method,based on the technology of reflectance spectroscopy,for measuring soil heavy metal contents is needed for monitoring and remedying heavy metal contaminated soils.Soil samples were collected from a Cu-Cd contaminated area in the vicinity of a copper smeltery in Guixi,Jiangxi Province,to explore relationships between visible-infrared reflectance spectra and contents of Cu,Zn,Pb,Cd,Cr,Co,Mn,Ni,and Fe in the heavy metal contaminated soil and their mechanisms.Results show that Cu (ranging from 66.7 mg kg^-1 to 387 mg kg^-1) and Cd (from 0.36 mg kg^-1 to 6.02 mg kg^-1) were highlyenriched in the soil,and reflectance spectra of the soil samples were significantly related to contents of heavy metals in the soil,with the highest correlation coefficient of Cu being-0.87,of Pb,Zn,Co,Ni and Fe being> 0.80,and of Cr,Cd and Mn being> 0.70.Derivative spectra are applicable to extraction of information of heavy metals in soils and bands combination may significantly improve their correlations.The relationship of Cu with reflectance spectra was affected by organic matter;of Zn,Pb,Co,and Ni,by silicate minerals and ferriferous-manganese oxides;and of Cr,by both organic matter and clay minerals.