Since 1641, Chatham Connecticut (now known as East Hampton), has historically been a center of interest in the mining industry with the focus being on the cobalt and nickel seams found in the area. Using a handheld XRF developed by SciAps, this project is focused on analyzing the soil and sediment around the points of interest in this area of the old mines including the 120-foot-deep shaft, a connecting tunnel opening, a stream that runs adjacent to the old mine, and the remains of the building used to process the mined ores. In addition to the expected high cobalt and nickel in the soil and sediment, we have also discovered high levels of arsenic and lead among the three sites. With this information, the interest has evolved to include heavy metal contamination due to the mining industry in this location. Here we present the soil makeup and contaminant concentrations of the area based on their elevation and proximity to water. Additionally, we report the efficacy of the SciAps handheld XRF for analysis of this type.

Analyzing heavy metal contamination of abandoned cobalt mine in Chatham, Connecticut using handheld XRF

255th National Meeting (2018)

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