FEI has reached a milestone for installing more than 200 automated mineralogy systems worldwide. FEI’s Mineral Liberation Analysis (MLA) and QEMSCAN automated mineralogy systems are used to understand the detailed mineralogy of the materials they extract during mining and drilling operations and helps evaluate the economic potential of operations.

Rudy Kellner, Vice President of FEI’s Industry Group said “Automated mineralogy has transformed from a curiosity to a mainstream necessity in supporting laboratories for major mining and petroleum producers around the world, FEI is leading the competition in sales of automated mineralogy solutions. Most of the top ten mining companies have our systems-one has 21. An exciting trend we are now seeing is the move from laboratory to mine and well sites as the value of faster analytical results in both exploration and production becomes more widely realised.”

Automated mineralogy uses a scanning electron microscope and multiple X-ray spectrometers to determine the structure and composition of rocks at the microscopic level. Automation makes the analysis quick and easy for operators and gains statistically significant results that are immediately available to scientists and engineers in the field.

The automated mineralogy provides quantitative information on the size and shape particles and grains, particle mineralogy, degree of liberation and mineral association. Results can be used with bulk chemical assays and together help maximize metal recovery and guide decisions in exploration, mining, mineral processing and metal refining.