Microscience and Microscopy in Mining

mmc2015, the Microscience Microscopy Congress, brings together various disciplines and areas of microscopy and imaging. It is one of Europe’s largest exhibitions dedicated to equipment, services and training that enable accurate and reliable measurements, all of which are essential tools throughout the mining industry. Geologists, geophysicists and environmental engineers in mineral and mining companies turn to electron microscopy and electron microprobe analysis to understand the microstructure and chemical composition of geological samples. A key technology that provides elemental analysis of microstructures is X-ray microanalysis. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) is ideal for sample surveys and compositional mapping, while wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (WDS) provides excellent spectral resolution for measuring the L- and M-lines of heavier elements critical to good geological analysis. The advent of Spectral Imaging has opened the door to effective live-time and post-processing techniques for EDS. Central here is the ability to generate accurate elemental phase maps from the collected x-rays. The result has been a progression of phase mapping techniques, ranging from classic RGB overlays, to “element-based phase maps” using Region of Interest data to, more recently, using fully quantified element maps. The latest advancements in EDS mapping involve principal component analysis to enable real-time phase identification with no required input from the user. The result is that the analyst can observe the development of mapping data (phases) as it is acquired, enabling quicker decisions whilst eliminating long acquisitions times just to collect a data set. Stop by Booth 306 to talk with our experts to see how live time quantitative mapping dramatically improves productiving in your SEM/EDS applications for geology. We will be hosting a workshop at the show specifically geared to phase mapping and statistics. We will progress through each technique in turn to evaluate the trade-offs and results that each approach provides. We will also review our SEM-based Wavelength Dispersive Spectrometer and other techniques. Stop by for more details. If you have some extra time before or after the show, the Manchester Central website offers many different things to do while you are in the area. Manchester is bursting with events for everyone, from live music and sports to museums, art and theater. The Manchester Museum boasts a mineral collection that began in the early part of the nineteenth century by the Manchester Natural History Society, and now comprises some 17,000 specimens. It contains a diverse assemblage of objects, which include meteorites, gemstones, ore samples and rare minerals. The Museum notes on its web page that: “Connoisseurs of minerals commonly identify three mining districts within northern England for special praise: the iron mines of South and West Cumbria for calcite and barite which set the worldwide standard; Caldbeck Fells, the northernmost outpost of the Lake District, for beautifully coloured lead, copper and zinc; northern half of the North Pennine Orefield, including the mines of Alston Moor and Weardale, has produced fluorite of many colours and superb examples of barium minerals witherite, barytocalcite and alstonite.” If you can’t be at the show, visit our event page, or follow the show Facebook or twitter page using the hashtag #mmc2015. Hope to see you there! Show Details: Microscience Microscopy Congress 2015 29 June – 2 July 2015 Manchester, UK Booth 306 Free Seminars: Tuesday, 30 June 2015 – 15:30 – 16:15 Phase mapping, statistics and COMPASS Wednesday, 1 July 2015 – 13:15 – 14:00 Smarter spectroscopy with WDS: When EDS isn’t good enough Click here to Register or for more information