July saw Petrolab in Cornwall, UK, running its first commercial automated mineralogy samples on its ZEISS SEM and Mineralogic Mining system. The system has flexible and highly configurable X-ray scanning modes that include line scan, feature scan, spot centroid and mapping.

John Fletcher explains “we have been using its capabilities to conduct varied analyses on copper tailings (using a bright phase search), a tungsten rougher table feed, a polymetallic concentrate and also several concrete samples that we have mapped for evidence of thaumasite sulphate attack.

It is a dedicated system running ZEISS’s Mineralogic Mining automated mineralogy engine and couples a ZEISS SEM with two Bruker EDX detectors.

The system has been designed as a ruggedised mine site deployable SEM and is currently with Petrolab for evaluation and training. As part of the support package for these systems in the future Petrolab will be providing data validation and quality control services.

Following evaluation, Petrolab is to install a ZEISS EVO MA-25, also running Mineralogic Mining, but with a much larger chamber capable of accommodating a wider range of samples.

Petrolab provides technical support services to the mining, minerals processing and materials industries worldwide.