Earth Search, Inc.

John A Dunkhase

Ronald W Klusman

James C Fisher

A method and apparatus has been provided to locate a subterranian precious ore and/or sulfide body from which mercury gas is emanating. The apparatus includes an inverted plastic drinking cup from which a mercury-free silver wire is suspended from its end. This is accomplished by inserting the end of the wire into a foam insulation disk located in the bottom of the inverted cup. Alternatively, wire may be attached within a cap of a storage vial. The cap has an adhesive on the outer surface which adheres it to the bottom of the cup, whereupon the vial is removed from the cap to expose the wire. A foil disk is placed on the outside of the bottom of the cup. A plurality of cups are buried in the ground forming a dead air space around the wire, for a period of weeks wherein any mercury-vapor in the ground in the area of the cup is adsorbed by the wire. These cups are arranged in a predetermined array and are subsequently located by means of a metal detector which can detect the metal foil on the cups. Upon removal, the wires are placed in a clean vial and refrigerated until such time as the amount of mercury in the wires can be determined. This is accomplished by removing the wires from the vial and vaporizing the mercury by heating the wires to glowing and adsorbing the released mercury-vapor on a gold film in a Jerome Mercury Detector. The amount of mercury adsorbed by the respective wires is indicative of the size and location of the ore body.

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Golden, CO, United States of America

John A Dunkhase