mine tailings, or tailings that were the result of close to 150 years
of mining operations, recorded to have an elevated Hg content,
were collected from three abandoned sites (i.e., Newington,
Magdala, and Big Hill) while current or recent tailings from an
operational gold mine were collected from the Davis stockpile.
Biosolids samples (i.e., moisture content >60–70%) were collected
from three sites at the Melbourne Water-Western Treatment
Plant (MW-WTP) (Victoria, Australia). All substrates were dried
to constant mass, crushed, and sieved through a 5 mm-mesh sieve
prior to Hg and Au analysis.