Reactions with salt, vinegar, and mercury?

Question

I am an amat gold prospector and found that a mix of regular table salt and venegar makes a good cleaning solution for small (tiny) amounts of ore.

I have placed a small amount of ground ore into a solution of salt and vinegar and then added a very small amount of mercury to help retrieve the gold particles.

What I am seeing is that over time, gas bubbles appear on top of the blob of mercury.

Anyone have an idea of just what kind of reaction is going on here? Is this something I should be concerned with?

BTW, the solution, ore, and mercury are in a well sealed vial.

Answer 1

If there are any carbonates present, they could react slowly with the acetic acid and give off carbon dioxide.