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Mineral deposits?

Gravity prospecting is appropriate for discovering a new Sudbury complex, but not a handfull of gold nuggets. The force of gravity is exceedingly weak and easily swamped by other factors. Long subject, short answer.

I know, I was just making a joke.

Obviously making stuff miniature will help make the instrument smaller, but there is a lot that goes into taking an accurate gravity reading to detect “small” things. I don't recall off the top of my head, but I think a 6-foot tall tunnel at 20 feet deep would be undetectable with even the best gravity meter and conditions.

The elevation needs to be known within a hundredth of a foot as well. And how do you get the data out of the device? I'm sure in the lab they have it wired up to a laptop or something. I suppose they have miniature data sending modules though as well - like bluetooth? I could see where you could “seed” the border with these chips, and see how their readings CHANGE over time.

They would also detect vibrations from foot and vehicle traffic as well if they are sensitive enough. Or - have them combined with a miniature seismic sensor.

I've read where they have, or are developing, sensors for storm watching that measure air pressure, wind speed and velocity and temperature and then relay that to the ground. The sensors are the size of a grain of rice! An airplane drops a bunch of them into the storm cell and away they go.