This application note shows that the Epsilon 4 is capable of analyzing Ni, Co, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Al, Cr, Ca and Si in nickel ore samples.
Accurate elemental analysis of nickel ore samples plays a very important role in nickel ore mine mapping and nickel ore pricing. XRF analysis provides a useful tool for classifying and for the quality control of compositions of the nickel ore materials.
This application note shows that the Epsilon 4 - a high-performance energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer is capable of analyzing Ni, Co, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Al, Cr, Ca and Si in nickel ore samples.
Nickel ore is an abundant industrial mineral that is mostly used as raw material for steel industries. Accurate elemental analysis of nickel ore samples plays a very important role in nickel ore mine mapping and nickel ore pricing. XRF analysis provides a useful tool for classifying and for the quality control of compositions of the nickel ore materials.
40 mm diameter beads were prepared by fusing 0.4 gram nickel ore sample material in 10 grams of flux (Li2B4O7). The bead samples were placed in standard sample holders and loaded in the Epsilon 4 spectrometer
Measurements were performed using an Epsilon 4 EDXRF spectrometer, equipped with a 10W, 50 kV rhodium anode X-ray tube, 6 filters, a helium purge facility, a high-resolution silicon drift detector, a spinner and a 10-position removable sample changer.
25 secondary nickel ore standards containing Ni, Co, Mg, Mn, Zn, Al, Cr, Ca and Si were used to set up the calibration. The details of the three measurement conditions are given in Table 1. All conditions were measured in air. The total measurement time was 5 minutes per sample.
Figures 1 and 2 show the spectra obtained for the elements in a nickel ore sample
Table 1. Measurement conditions
Figure 1. The spectrum of a sample obtained with 5 kV, showing the excellent resolution and the high sensitivity of the detector
Figure 2. The spectrum of a sample obtained with 50 kV and Ag filter
The calibration plots shown in Figures 3 and 4 demonstrate the good correlation between the given concentrations and the measured intensities. Table 2 shows the RMS of the individual element calibrations.
Table 2. Calibration results
Figure 3. Calibration graph for Ni
Table 3. Results of the repeatability test
Figure 4. Calibration graph for Fe
The data clearly demonstrates the suitability of the Epsilon 4 EDXRF spectrometer for the quantitative analysis of Ni, Co, Mg, Fe, Mn, Zn, Al, Cr, Ca and Si in nickel ore samples. Accurate and precise results can be obtained in just 5 minutes.
