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| Dr. Ryan Noble |
"When
you mix the drinks with soil, acids dissolve some of
the metals into solution, which can then easily be detected
in routine laboratory analysis," Dr Noble said.
The chemical ability of wine makes them very suitable
for use as a cheap extraction tool that can be applied
to mineral exploration.
"They are particularly good at discovering elevated
levels of metals such as silver, zinc, copper and nickel,"
Dr Noble said.
Dr Noble and his colleagues were initially a bit 'tongue-in-cheek'
about carrying out the tests. But they were astounded
by the results.
"In many cases, the comparison of metals extracted
using wine were superior than those extracted using
conventional, and much more expensive, commercial solvents,"
he said.
Results of the testing were presented at the recent
2007 CRC LEME Mineral Exploration Seminar so that the
exploration industry could be made aware of and begin
using this new, unconventional technique.
The scientists tested red wine and a number of popular
soft drinks. The effectiveness of the technique is unlikely
to be affected by whether the wine is a Shiraz or a
Malbec and diet soft drinks are just as effective as
those containing sugar.
Dr. Noble is a scientist and works with CSIRO Exploration
& Mining. The research was done on a part-time basis
in his own time.
Sourced from: http://www.sciencedaily.com
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