Broken Hill is an historic mining city in the Far West (Outback) of the Australian state of New South Wales. Broken Hill was founded on mining the world's largest silver, lead and zinc deposit in 1883, and the locals have been busy digging ever since.t is 1,150 km of mostly long straight drive from Sydney to Broken Hill, and just over 500 km from Adelaide. Both roads are mostly good quality sealed roads. The scenery will change slowly along the way. Broken Hill is on the edge of the real outback, but is easily accessible by car.