- To participate in the 911Metallurgist Forums, be sure to JOIN & LOGIN
- Use Add New Topic to ask a New Question/Discussion about Assaying, Microscopy, Mineralogy & XRF/XRD.
- OR Select a Topic that Interests you.
- Use Add Reply = to Reply/Participate in a Topic/Discussion (most frequent).
Using Add Reply allows you to Attach Images or PDF files and provide a more complete input. - Use Add Comment = to comment on someone else’s Reply in an already active Topic/Discussion.
XRF Assay of Metal Concentrates (11 replies)
We offer fully certified (NR Can) XRF services in Canada as well as professional engineering and geology services. We have performed handheld XRF (using Oxford Instruments' handheld) sample studies with Ni-Cu base metal concentrates, tailings, ore samples and intermediates at Vale's Sheridan Park facilities (proving accuracy) and some of our data is available at our website (http://www.optimineral.com). It would be our pleasure to utilize this technology alongside your ITH drilling and/or other applications to use this equipment to its maximum potential. Minimizing risk and fully quantifying exactly what it is you are throwing down the ore pass and sending to the mill (grade, hardness (throughput/mill bottleneck), deleterious minerals that disable optimal flotation, etc.). We are specialized in mining and mineral processing engineering with an excellent geology professional fleshing out the team.
You can use it for low grade material as well as high grade material. For low grade material, you may use factory calibration, but for high grade material, factory calibration will read lower than real concentrations. So you will need to adjust calibration (which takes a few minutes and a few known samples).
My view is that It can be used for approximate values of both high & low grade materials both at mine & plant site. Final results can be tested at the laboratory.
Actually, the XRF is a tool used to give estimates of ore composition. It is a non destructive test where it uses X-Rays (hence needing NRCan certification in Canada) to tell you what elements are in the sample you provided and rough percentages/concentration of those elements. This would do nothing for the flotation process in itself however, using the knowledge generated from it, can enable a more selective mining method that can help the mill's performance: EX Stabilize mill feed grade by knowing the grade of ore you're feeding it.
Of course we all know the expression "garbage in, garbage out" and this applies to this tool more than ever as it only penetrates and measures samples on the "skin". Another appropriate term is that it "scratches the surface". Having an appropriate sampling method is the most important aspect of using this tool in order to maintain integrity in your measurements.
Here you can see how handheld XRF is used in Mining. There are two short videos on this page that will show how you can analyze rock and mineral samples in seconds, including analyzing a vein. The second video is of mining customers who share how their businesses have benefited from having lab-quality analysis in the field. http://www.niton.com/mining
XRF were used at the mill because of high grade and low grad we fed floatation faster or slower (we did not slow floatation) wrong words thanks for the correction.
Here's the preliminary Handheld XRF results we had using concentrates, tailings and ore feed at Vale's Sheridan Park Lab. We analyzed over 20 samples and compared them to ICP. Specifically we looked at Cu, Ni, Fe and Co http://optimineral.com/xrf-preliminary-results/
My experience says that we can use this for both concentrates and ores for base metal analyses with reasonable accuracy. But it cannot replace Lab assays for final metallurgical calculations or estimates. However in noble metal analyses of ores, I found it far less accurate.
The portable XRF can very well handle mineral concentrate analysis very accurately such as columbite, tantalite, cassiterite, monazite, etc.
Can an XRF analysis well high sulfide samples. High grade ore chips or flotation concentrate?