Study Site Primary Study Site The Farvic Gold mine is a privately owned mine in southern Zimbabwe, roughly 170 km southeast from the country’s second largest city of Bulawayo. The mine is subsurface with two ore extraction sites, one in a small town called West Nicholson on the bank of the Mzingwane River and the second approximately 17 km to the east of West Nicholson just south of the A6 highway. While both sites extract ore, the amalgamation process only takes place at the second site. For this reason the second site will be the primary location for sampling. The second site has a single large tailing pile where tailings are placed after going through first the amalgamation then cyanidation process. There is a small stream bed that lays to the west of the tailing pile and runs approximately 1 km south down a slope to a reservoir. The reservoir sits between a long downward slope from the tailing pile/extraction site from the north and a considerably sized rocky out cropping directly to the west. At the southern end of the reservoir is a dam with a small outflowing stream that eventually connects with the Mzingwane River. Secondary Study Sites On top of the rocky outcropping and on its southern slopes there are many independently rented mining sites. The owner of the Farvic mine rents 1 m x 1 m plots of land for individuals to mine independently. According to the rent agreement miners are supposed to bring all extracted ore to the Farvic mine for amalgamation. There is some doubt whether all miners are complying with this agreement and just performing the amalgamation at the individual mine locations. For this reason I will be taking samples opportunistically where there is suspicion of amalgamation activity. In addition, there is a stream located to the south of the rocky outcropping that collects a majority of the water shed from the outcropping which flows into the outflowing stream from the reservoir and eventually connects with the Mzingwane River. There are also reports of temporary locations throughout the country side where miners will illegally crush, concentrate, and amalgamate ore. These sites are of particular interest because they represent the endemic problem of mercury contamination from small-scale and artisanal mining. These sites will be sampled opportunistically if and when they are made available. Sample Collection Soils and Sediments samples Soil and sediment samples (1000 mg; ≤5 cm) will be taken using a trowel and polypropylene whirl bags. Soil samples will be taken every 10 m along the natural downward slope starting at the tailing pile and ending at the reservoir to the south. Sediment samples will be taken every 10 m along the small, possibly dry, stream bed leading from the tailing pile to the reservoir. Sediment samples from the reservoir will be taken every 20 m along the central channel. Additional samples will be taken every 10 m along transects perpendicular to the channel located at each 20 m sample site. Care will be taken to avoid disturbing sediments on the bottom of the reservoir when collecting samples to avoid cross contamination from different collecting sites. Sediment samples from the stream leaving the reservoir will be taken along the main channel every 10 m extending 200 m downstream. Additional samples from the stream will be taken every 1 km up to 10 km downstream. Sampling will start at the furthest location downstream and proceed toward the reservoir to avoid contamination from any disturbed sediments flowing downstream from previous sampling efforts. Soil and sediment samples will be stored in polypropylene whirl bags without any preservation treatment other than refrigeration if possible. Soil and sediment permits for collection in Zimbabwe and importation to the United States have been applied for and I am awaiting response. Water samples Water samples will be taken and stored with clean certified 125 mL Boston Round Clear Glass bottles (Thermo Scientific, Rockwood, TN). Water samples (125 mL) from the reservoir will be taken at mid depth 1 m from the shoreline at each cardinal direction of the reservoir along with an additional sample in the center. Water samples from the outflowing stream leaving the reservoir will be taken along the main channel every 10 m extending 200 m downstream. Additional samples from the stream will be taken every 1 km up to 10 km downstream. Sampling will start at the furthest location downstream and proceed toward the reservoir to avoid contamination from any disturbed sediments flowing downstream from previous sampling efforts. Water samples will be treated with 5 mL/L 12N HCL before storage. Water permits for collection in Zimbabwe and importation to the United States have been applied for and I am awaiting response. Fish samples Fish will be collected from both the reservoir to the south of the Farvic gold mine and the outflowing stream from the reservoir. There will be a total of 15 sample sites (4 in the lake and 11 in the stream) with 3 individuals from a single species collected at each site, which gives a total of 45 individuals per species. I will co 4 species at each site for a total of 180 individuals over all sample sites and species. Fish will be collected from the reservoir by seining each of four quadrants; northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. Fish will be collected from the outflowing stream every 1 km in correlation to water and sediment sample locations using a seine, or dip net where necessary. Only fish >2000 mg will be kept for analysis, all others will be released. All fish collected will be euthanized using an ice bath followed by cervical dislocation. For fish samples with fillet muscle tissue > 2000 mg only the fillet will be dried for preservation, all other fish samples will be dried whole. Fish samples will then be stored in polypropylene whirl bags for transportation into the United States. A collection permit from the Zimbabwean government has been applied for and I am currently waiting for a response. Permitting for importation of fish into the United States is handled at customs upon re-enter into the country. Sample Analysis Samples will be transported to the University of Michigan where water samples will be analyzed using cold vapor atomic spectrometry according to EPA method 245.7 and all other samples by thermal decomposition, amalgamation, and atomic absorption spectrophotometry according to EPA method 7473.