The studies of lead shielding efficiency from the gamma background measurements were performed in the salt cavern of the copper mine - a site considered for an underground laboratory. Within the energy range of 50-2700 keV, the measured gamma-ray count rates normalized to the mass of the high-purity detectors germanium crystal are 5.93 and 6.32 s-1kg-1 for the used low-background and portable spectrometers, respectively. The gamma-ray flux of 0.124 (2) cm-2s-1 connected with the natural radioisotopes was observed by the portable HPGe, including 0.026 (1) cm-2s-1 contribution of radon decay products, whereas the photon flux at the spectrum continuum was 0.18 (5) cm-2s-1.
Keywords: Gamma background; Gamma-ray spectrometry; Lead shielding efficiency; Natural radioactivity; Underground laboratory.