Supplementary Information
Unravelling a ‘miner’s myth’ that environmental contamination in mining towns is naturally occurring
Louise Jane Kristensen, Mark Patrick Taylor
Supplementary Table S1: Soil lead and zinc concentrations, lead isotopic compositions and sample coordinates. Locations of samples in Broken Hill can be seen in Supplementary Figure S1. Sample labels coloured to indicate geology, blue = Sundown Group; yellow = Thackaringa Group; pink = Broken Hill Group.
Supplementary Figure S1: Location of soil samples collected and tested in Broken Hill.
Supplementary Figure S2: Geology of Broken Hill drawn from Willis (1989) and Andrews (1922).
Supplementary Figure S3: Soil depth profiles and Surface Enrichment Ratios (SER) of select samples from Broken Hill
Supplementary Figure S4: The uncovered tailings mound produced from the central Broken Hill mine, known as Mount Hebbard. Note for scale the truck bottom right.
Supplementary References
Supplementary Table S1: Soil lead and zinc concentrations, lead isotopic compositions and sample coordinates. Locations of samples in Broken Hill can be seen in Supplementary Figure S1. Sample labels coloured to indicate geology, blue = Sundown Group; yellow = Thackaringa Group; pink = Broken Hill Group.
Sample / LatitudeS31° / Longitude
E141° / Soil depth / Zn [mg/kg] / Pb [mg/kg] / 206Pb/207Pb / 208Pb/207Pb / 206Pb/204Pb
HS1 / 58ꞌ18.09" / 29ꞌ8.93" / 0-2 / 1520 / 2850 / 1.038 / 2.314 / 16.03
2-10 / 600 / 2440 / 1.040 / 2.319 / 15.97
10-20 / 160 / 590
40-50 / 85 / 700 / 1.044 / 2.322 / 16.08
HS2 / 58ꞌ27.65" / 29ꞌ23.76" / 0-2 / 1160 / 1060 / 1.043 / 2.323 / 16.00
2-10 / 920 / 1070 / 1.042 / 2.320 / 16.05
10-20 / 450 / 270
40-50 / 65 / 48 / 1.072 / 2.358 / 16.67
HS3 / 58ꞌ13.92" / 29ꞌ45.03" / 0-2 / 1060 / 1320
2-10 / 87 / 170
10-20 / 76 / 170
40-50 / 72 / 240
HS4 / 57ꞌ55.15" / 29ꞌ46.41" / 0-2 / 3580 / 2900 / 1.042 / 2.321 / 16.05
2-10 / 1130 / 900 / 1.041 / 2.315 / 16.05
10-20 / 490 / 400
40-50 / 290 / 190 / 1.044 / 2.320 / 16.03
HS5 / 57ꞌ58.38" / 29ꞌ58.28" / 0-2 / 2160 / 2080
2-10 / 86 / 160
10-20 / 100 / 600
40-50 / 75 / 100
HS6 / 56ꞌ20.56" / 26ꞌ55.35" / 0-2 / 180 / 170
2-10 / 140 / 120
10-20 / 180 / 120
40-50 / 260 / 280
CC1 / 58ꞌ46.82" / 27ꞌ46.47" / 0-2 / 1000 / 660
2-10 / 5200 / 3390
20-30* / 6670 / 3740
CC2 / 59ꞌ00.15" / 27ꞌ49.78" / 0-2 / 1730 / 1220
2-10 / 2130 / 1340
10-20 / 1570 / 1090
40-50 / No data / 97
CC3 / 59ꞌ16.65" / 28ꞌ07.35" / 0-2 / 1900 / 1320
2-10 / 470 / 250
10-20 / 88 / 48
40-50 / 100 / 53
CC4 / 59ꞌ22.66" / 27ꞌ31.00" / 0-2 / 6860 / 3490
2-10 / 710 / 420
10-20 / 140 / 82
40-50 / 50 / 21
CC5 / 59ꞌ32.74" / 26ꞌ51.14" / 0-2 / 10100 / 3420
2-10 / 550 / 560
10-20 / 360 / 280
40-50 / 48 / 24
CC6 / 59ꞌ12.83" / 27ꞌ10.25" / 0-2 / 8720 / 3540
2-10 / 2060 / 770
CC7 / 59ꞌ47.58" / 26ꞌ55.10" / 0-2 / 5730 / 2750
2-10 / 330 / 100
10-20 / 110 / 47
40-50 / 490 / 190
LOLE1 / 58ꞌ43.57" / 28ꞌ48.10" / 0-2 / 530 / 700
2-10 / 420 / 410
40-50 / 110 / 97
LOLE2 / 58ꞌ23.96" / 28ꞌ22.95" / 0-2 / 7100 / 8900
2-10 / 2700 / 3300
40-50 / 170 / 160
LOLE3 / 57ꞌ56.29" / 28ꞌ23.71" / 0-2 / 5000 / 8400
2-10 / 1700 / 570
40-50 / 190 / 200
LOLE4 / 57ꞌ23.97" / 28ꞌ45.26" / 0-2 / 9500 / 6300
2-10 / 6900 / 5700
40-50 / 2100 / 2000
LOLE5 / 56ꞌ19.90" / 28ꞌ05.89" / 0-2 / 370 / 300
2-10 / 200 / 170
40-50 / 230 / 170
LOLE6 / 56ꞌ02.08" / 27ꞌ55.81" / 0-2 / 275 / 395
2-10 / 190 / 230
20-25* / 67 / 64
LOLW1 / 59ꞌ21.88" / 27ꞌ49.49" / 0-2 / 1800 / 815 / 1.0416 / 2.316 / 16.04
2-10 / 170 / 96
40-50 / 91 / 44 / 1.0708 / 2.349 / 16.54
LOLW2 / 58ꞌ44.77" / 27ꞌ16.20" / 0-2 / 3900 / 2400 / 1.0397 / 2.319 / 16.02
2-10 / 370 / 270
40-50 / 110 / 77 / 1.0488 / 2.328 / 16.11
LOLW3 / 58ꞌ13.61" / 26ꞌ11.29" / 0-2 / 290 / 200 / 1.0513 / 2.321 / 16.17
2-10 / 37 / 23
30-40* / 33 / 13 / 1.2665 / 2.401 / 19.97
LOLW4 / 57ꞌ37.86" / 25ꞌ51.16" / 0-2 / 86 / 46 / 1.0787 / 2.352 / 16.69
2-10 / 100 / 66
40-50 / 46 / 15 / 1.2229 / 2.428 / 19.15
BHW1 / 58ꞌ22.45" / 26ꞌ26.64" / 0-2 / 560 / 330
2-10 / 660 / 370
10-20 / 520 / 250
40-50 / 480 / 310
BHW2 / 58ꞌ47.19" / 26ꞌ28.28" / 0-2 / 2500 / 1340
2-10 / 490 / 220
10-20 / 82 / 21
40-50 / 63 / 18
BHW3 / 55ꞌ51.57" / 26ꞌ23.35" / 0-2 / 230 / 170
2-10 / 88 / 55
30-35* / 68 / 30
BHN1 / 56ꞌ35.52" / 28ꞌ52.70" / 0-2 / 3850 / 2890
2-10 / 2320 / 2170
10-20 / 650 / 690
40-45* / 460 / 420
BHN2 / 56ꞌ57.48" / 26ꞌ48.55" / 0-2 / 200 / 140
2-10 / 270 / 270
10-20 / 97 / 79
40-50 / 39 / 12
BHN3 / 56ꞌ20.64" / 27ꞌ44.44" / 0-2 / 570 / 530
BHN4 / 56ꞌ07.25" / 28ꞌ38.27" / 0-2 / 300 / 150
2-10 / 120 / 64
10-20 / 97 / 42
40-50 / 61 / 18
BHN5 / 57ꞌ03.90" / 28ꞌ11.13" / 0-2 / 2130 / 1060
2-10 / 1120 / 1250
10-20 / 710 / 830
40-50 / 1350 / 2410
BHN6 / 57ꞌ24.64" / 27ꞌ02.78" / 0-2 / 860 / 1300
2-10 / 690 / 1070
20-25* / 84 / 350
BHN7 / 57ꞌ26.54" / 28ꞌ18.03" / 0-2 / 5160 / 3620
2-10 / 67 / 150
10-20 / 130 / 96
40-50 / 180 / 190
BHN8 / 57ꞌ23.31" / 27ꞌ31.04" / 0-2 / 1320 / 1170
2-10 / 3110 / 3010
10-20 / 740 / 2390
40-50 / 89 / 61
Broken Hill Ore samples (galena)
± standard deviation / n=12 / 1.041 ± 0.002 / 2.312
± 0.006 / 16.02
± 0.07
Soil1 / 57ꞌ34.31" / 27ꞌ49.50" / pXRF / 7971 / 1093
Soil2 / 57ꞌ14.90" / 27ꞌ38.20" / pXRF / 298 / 248
Soil3 / 56ꞌ53.92" / 27ꞌ19.66" / pXRF / 99 / 61
Soil4 / 56ꞌ22.96" / 27ꞌ23.77" / pXRF / 117 / 77
Soil5 / 57ꞌ45.76" / 27ꞌ28.90" / pXRF / 1150 / 1248
Soil6 / 57ꞌ43.49" / 27ꞌ00.09" / pXRF / 732 / 429
Soil7 / 58ꞌ27.87" / 26ꞌ38.36" / pXRF / 314 / 175
Soil8 / 56ꞌ06.90" / 26ꞌ24.77" / pXRF / 496 / 279
Soil9 / 57ꞌ22.24" / 26ꞌ15.34" / pXRF / 207 / 116
Soil10 / 57ꞌ20.03" / 26ꞌ44.28" / pXRF / 162 / 58
Soil11 / 56ꞌ17.95" / 28ꞌ19.32" / pXRF / 152 / 102
Soil12 / 56ꞌ37.27" / 28ꞌ18.27" / pXRF / 47 / 45
Soil13 / 57ꞌ05.04" / 28ꞌ20.51" / pXRF / 807 / 1017
Soil14 / 56ꞌ33.77" / 27ꞌ50.37" / pXRF / 94 / 50
Soil15 / 56ꞌ01.69" / 27ꞌ49.60" / pXRF / 269 / 143
Soil16 / 56ꞌ41.26" / 28ꞌ55.70" / pXRF / 806 / 1243
Soil17 / 56ꞌ27.03" / 28ꞌ47.20" / pXRF / 660 / 557
Soil18 / 58ꞌ17.24" / 27ꞌ53.14" / pXRF / 9083 / 6925
Soil19 / 58ꞌ01.09" / 28ꞌ21.41" / pXRF / 1516 / 1691
Soil20 / 58ꞌ46.48" / 27ꞌ58.89" / pXRF / 744 / 617
Soil21 / 58ꞌ58.27" / 28ꞌ24.25" / pXRF / 1270 / 680
Soil22 / 59ꞌ07.80" / 27ꞌ37.51" / pXRF / 1516 / 1692
Soil23 / 58ꞌ00.40" / 29ꞌ49.59" / pXRF / 3348 / 2272
*The lowest sample collected due to the presence of bedrock
pXRF = portable X-Ray Fluorescence
Supplementary Figure S1: Location of soil samples collected and tested in Broken Hill.
Supplementary Figure S2: Geology of Broken Hill drawn from Willis (1989) and Andrews (1922).
Supplementary Figure S3: Soil depth profiles and Surface Enrichment Ratios (SER) of select samples from Broken Hill
Supplementary Figure S4: The uncovered tailings mound produced from the central Broken Hill mine, known as Mount Hebbard (Blainey 1968). Note for scale the truck bottom right.
Supplementary References
Andrews, E. C. (1922). The Geology of the Broken Hill District (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of New South Wales, Vol. No. 8). Sydney, New South Wales: William Applegate Gullick, Government Printer.
Willis, I. L. (1989). Broken Hill Stratigraphic 1:100 000 Geological Sheet. (1st ed.). Sydney, New South Wales: Geological Survey of New South Wales.
Blainey, G. (1968). The Rise of Broken Hill. Netley, South Australia: Macmillan of Australia.