Soil microbial metagenome around tailings ponds on the Tibetan Plateau
Soil samples were collected from three lead-zinc mine tailings ponds with an average elevation of over 3700 meters on the Tibet Plateau during October 2024. They belong to Xizang Huaxia Mining Co., Ltd. (named HXKY, with an average altitude of about 4894 m), Xizang Zhongkai Mining Co., Ltd. (named ZKKY, with an average altitude of about 3902 m), and Caisheng Mining Co., Ltd. in Jiangxia Township, Linzhou County (named CSKY, with an average altitude of about 3754 m). The collection of 45 soil samples, 15 from each of the upstream, downstream, and peripheral areas of three tailings ponds, was conducted for this study. Metagenomic sequencing was employed to characterize the composition and structural differences of microbial communities across three tailings pond sites.