How To Correctly Prepare Pellets Before Analyzing Your Mining Sample

Gary Thomas, Editor-in-Chief of AZoM, wrote a nice article on how to correctly prepare pellets before analyzing your sample.  He recommends: When samples are prepared for XRF analysis, the size of the particles to be analyzed should be maintained within the saturation depth of the x-rays. A preliminary size reduction is carried out for the sample materials of large feed sizes. Following this, a small part of the sample is subjected to fine grinding. Dry and bulk samples can be introduced into the rotating dividers through vibratory feeders for grinding. Sample splitters are used for heavily flowing materials. Finally, the part sample thus obtained is subjected to pulverization. We agree, especially in the mining industry.  Whatever your mining and exploration requirements are, you need  information that’s accurate, precise, and fast. With the proven analytical performance of portable XRF analyzers in the field at all stages of the exploration, mining, and refining processes, the limiting factor in achieving better correlation with laboratory results is proper sample preparation.  And with proper sample preparation comes proper pellet preparation. Take a look at these 6-minute videos that give step-by-step instructions on how to pelletize rock samples right in the field…using both a  hammer mill field kit and a direct rock sampler kit.