Authors / CoAuthors
Webber, E. | Pappas, W.
Abstract
There is a general acceptance amongst the analytical community that geological materials must be reduced to less than 75 microns grain size to reduce particle-size effects and to reduce minerals sufficiently to provide a representative analysis of the sample. This study examines several aspects of this assumption, by comparing the XRF analysis of pressed powder pellets and fused glass discs of the same samples in coarse- and fine-grained form; quantifying the grain-size difference between these samples by laser particle size analysis. An examination of the effect that overloading a grinding head can have on the efficiency of grinding was also carried out. Coarse- and fine-grained aliquots of the same samples were pressed into powder pellets and trace elements analysed by a Philips PW2404 X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer. These same samples were fused into Lithium meta/tetra Borate discs and analysed for major elements by XRF. A sub-sample of this glass disc was acid-digested and trace elements analysed on an Agilent 7500CE ICP-MS. Results obtained were compared. Grinding head efficiency was examined by pulverising increasing weights of the same rock sample in a Rocklabs TC-200 Tungsten Carbide grinding head in a Rocklabs Standard Ring Mill. The same methodology as outlined above was then used to analyse the fractions and compare the results. A Malvern 2000E Laser Particle Size analyser was used to quantify the grain size of the samples analysed. Analytical results will be presented, highlighting the effects of the varying grain size.
Product Type
nonGeographicDataset
eCat Id
70916
Contact for the resource
Custodian
Point of contact
Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
Canberra
ACT
2601
Australia
Keywords
-
- External Publication
- ( Theme )
-
- geochemistry
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
-
- Earth Sciences
-
- Published_Internal
Publication Date
2011-01-01T00:00:00
Creation Date
Security Constraints
Legal Constraints
Status
Purpose
Maintenance Information
unknown
Topic Category
geoscientificInformation
Series Information
Lineage
Unknown
Parent Information
Extents
Reference System
Spatial Resolution
Service Information
Associations
Downloads and Links
Source Information
Source data not available.