Tag Archives: LIBS

Thermo Fisher Scientific ‘pushing the boundaries’ of LIBS analysis with new Niton analyser

Environmental, Mineral exploration, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc says it is pushing the boundaries of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) with the introduction of small parts capabilities for its Thermo Scientific™ Niton™ Apollo™ Handheld LIBS Analyser.

This highly portable, user-friendly analytical device – based on optical emission spectroscopy – allows customers in locations like oil refineries, stainless steel production sites and mineral exploration projects to measure carbon and steel samples as small as 6 mm in diameter.

Users grading and identifying complex metal alloy structures can now benefit from the innovative optical engine and compact tapered-nose design of the Niton Apollo Handheld LIBS Analyser, the company says, explaining that the unit brings the precision and power of laboratory testing to the field, offering exceptional coverage and cleaner, safer analysis for intricate samples.

The Niton Apollo Handheld LIBS Analyser now features an enhanced laser with a reduced aperture, allowing it to measure previously challenging structures, including 6 mm pipes, 9.5 mm bars and larger weld wires.

The analyser’s fully-sealed Argon environment enables rapid and precise mobile carbon analysis for metals and alloys with accuracy and safety, while continuing to provide excellent identification, an easy-to-use interface, calibration adaptability, drift correction, an ergonomic design and fast results, the company says.

CRC ORE and Canada’s NRC to move LIBS mineral analysis to the mine site

Metallurgy, Mineral exploration, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , , , , , , ,

The Cooperative Research Centre for Optimising Resource Extraction (CRC ORE) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) have partnered on a project to bring the benefits of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) chemical element analysis to the mine site.

LIBS, a rapid chemical element analysis technique, is used in a variety of applications including analysis of soil, effluents, scrap metal, alloy and molten metals. It works through a focused laser pulse striking the sample surface and removing an amount of material to generate a high-temperature plasma plume. Atoms and ions are excited to higher energy levels and, while returning into their ground state, emit characteristic energy signatures for each element.

The robustness of LIBS is well suited for real-time minerology analysis and at all stages of the mining production cycle, according to CRC ORE, with commercially available laboratory-based quantitative mineral analysers (QMA) – such as QEMSCAN and MLA – historically used in mining.

“However, these technologies are not suited for in-stream or on-belt applications due to their meticulous sample preparation and measurement protocols,” the centre said. The analysis is limited to costly lab-based sampling, which requires the extraction of extensive samples and the transport of these to lab facilities, sometimes many hundreds of kilometres away from the mine site, according to CRC ORE.

To provide a timelier solution to the mining industry, the CRC is working with the NRC to explore the use of LIBS sensor technology for applications such as mineral characterisation across a conveyor belt. Additionally, the use of LIBS is being examined as an industrialised elemental and mineralogical analyser for scanning coarse rock streams.

CRC ORE Program Coordinator, Dr Greg Wilkie, said the two organisations are taking LIBS use in the mining industry to the next level by putting the technique to use in operating mine sites.

“By applying LIBS in a real-time application, such as across an operating conveyor belt, operators are empowered with high volumes of rapid analysis provided in real time,” Dr Wilkie said. “Analysis in real time speeds up the mineralogy process, providing operators with detail they may have previously had to wait days or weeks to obtain.”

He added: “We are proudly putting the minerology back into process minerology.”

The NRC’s Senior Research Officer, Dr Alain Blouin, said the NRC and CRC ORE are working on a long-term LIBS project, which is nearing the end of an intensive two-year study.

“We are developing a novel application of a LIBS rapid on-line mineralogical characterisation instrument suitable for deployment on mine sites,” Dr Blouin said. “LIBS can measure a large number of elements simultaneously with the ability to detect light elements beyond the capability of many other techniques.”

Dr Wilkie said since LIBS can perform analysis several metres away from what it is measuring and still detect extremely low concentrations it is well suited technology for the mining industry.

“Beyond cross-belt scanning, LIBS can work in a variety of settings from in-pit muckpiles, underground draw points and on-line slurries,” Dr Wilkie said.

It is anticipated that the real-time LIBS solution be used in conjunction with CRC ORE’s Grade Engineering® – an approach to the early separation of ore from waste material. Grade Engineering is minimising the impact of declining grades and productivity in the Australian and global minerals sector, according to CRC ORE.