Abstract

MELGAREJO, Joan Carles; PROENZA, Joaquín A.; GALI, Salvador  and  LLOVET, Xavier. Techniques of mineral characterization and their use inmining exploration and exploitation. Bol. Soc. Geol. Mex [online]. 2010, vol.62, n.1, pp.1-23. ISSN 1405-3322.

This paper is an overview of the main analytical techniques used in mineral characterization, as well as their application to mining exploration and exploitation. Two groups of techniques have been established. The first group includes more frequently used techniques ("conventional techniques"): (i) X-ray powder diffraction and quantitative XRD, (ii) scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), (iii) cathodoluminiscence, and iv) electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). In contrast, the second group comprises less commonly used and more expensive techniques ("unconventional techniques"): (i) Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (Micro-PIXE), (ii) Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), (iii) Laser-Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The paper covers mainly the fundamentals of the most commonly used analytical techniques in mineral characterization (DRX, SEM-EDS, EMPA), and information on applications of these tools in mining exploration, which can be of major interest in small mining operations.

Keywords : Mineral characterization; analytical techniques; X-ray diffraction; Scanning electron microscopy; electron probe micro analysis.

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