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X‐Ray fluorescence analysis of base metal sulphide and iron–manganese oxide ore samples in fused glass disc
Author(s) -
Spangenberg J.,
Fontbote L.,
Pernicka E.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
x‐ray spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.447
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1097-4539
pISSN - 0049-8246
DOI - 10.1002/xrs.1300230209
Subject(s) - manganese , x ray fluorescence , oxide , calibration , mineralogy , iron oxide , reproducibility , analytical chemistry (journal) , iron ore , dilution , metal , chemistry , materials science , metallurgy , fluorescence , environmental chemistry , optics , statistics , physics , mathematics , chromatography , thermodynamics
Abstract A procedure for the wavelength‐dispersive x‐ray fluorescence determination of major, minor and trace elements in fused discs of base metal sulphide ores and of iron–manganese oxide ores is described. The objective was to obtain reasonable chemical analyses of ore samples of a wide compositional range. Owing to the scarcity of well characterized geochemical reference ore samples, calibration was done with synthetic glass disc standards. The concentration range and the association of the elements considered in the standards take into account the geochemistry of most ore types. A fusion method with a high dilution ratio (sample‐to‐lithium tetraborate ratio= 1 : 10) was used to reduce the matrix effects. This allows a direct comparison of the synthetic standards with unknown geological sample discs. Two different methods of data reduction of the measured intensities were tested: (1) intensity‐based correction method for the determination of major, minor and trace elements and (2) peak/background ratio method for the determination of minor and trace elements. A critical evaluation of the reproducibility, as judged from duplicate analyses, and the accuracy, estimated by comparison with international reference materials, showed the procedure to be capable of obtaining reasonable chemical analyses for most elements of geological interest.