Metal speciation in agricultural soils adjacent to the Irankuh Pb–Zn mining area, central Iran

•Total and partial extraction are completed over soil samples near a mining area.•Patterns for Pb, Zn and As are spatially related to the mining operations.•Correlation between Pb–Zn–As and secondary Fe + Mn oxyhydroxides or carbonates is low.

Mining activities are a significant potential source of metal contamination of soils in surrounding areas, with particular concern for metals dispersed into agricultural area in forms that are bioavailable and which may affect human health. Soils in agricultural land adjacent to Pb–Zn mining operations in the southern part of the Irankuh Mountains contain elevated concentrations for a range of metals associated with the mineralization (including Pb, Zn and As). Total and partial geochemical extraction data from a suite of 137 soil samples is used to establish mineralogical controls on ore-related trace elements and help differentiate spatial patterns that can be related to the effects of mining on the agricultural land soils from general geological and environmental controls. Whereas the patterns for Pb, Zn and As are spatially related to the mining operations they display little correlation with the distribution of secondary Fe + Mn oxyhydroxides or carbonates, suggesting dispersion as dust and in forms with limited bioavailability.