Gingerly Steps toward Demining the Globe Nations Are Slowly Joining the International Committee for the Red Cross in Seeking a Worldwide Ban on Land Mines, at Least 85 Million of Which Are Scattered across Five Continents. New Methods Are Lowering the Cost of Removal

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DUSTY, a seven-year-old Border Collie, strides confidently past three filters impregnated with different explosives.

She shows special interest in a fourth sample, takes a closer sniff, circles it three times, and then sits down and wags her tail. The dog has been trained to detect TNT, which the last filter had been permeated with.

"She is an old lady, but she is brilliant," says Vernon Joynt, a South African arms designer who is now channeling his energy toward the detection and lifting of antipersonnel land mines.

Mr. Joynt, managing director of the South African company Mechem, uses dogs to help detect land mines. Mechem takes air samples from areas …