Geographical Analysis of "Conflict Minerals" Utilizing Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
Abstract
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) offers a means of rapidly distinguishing different geographic sources for a mineral because the LIBS plasma emission spectrum provides information on the chemical composition (i.e. geochemical fingerprint) of a geomaterial. An application of this approach with potentially significant commercial and political importance is the spectral fingerprinting of "conflict minerals" such as columbite-tantalite ("coltan"). Following a successful pilot study of a columbite?tantalite suite from North America, a more geographically diverse set of 57 samples from 37 locations around the world was analyzed using a commercially available LIBS system. The LIBS spectra were analyzed using advanced multivariate statistical signal processing techniques. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA) resulted in a correct place-level geographic classification at success rates above 90%. The possible role of rare-earth elements (REEs) as a factor contributing to the high levels of sample discrimination was explored. These results provide additional evidence that LIBS has the potential to be utilized in the field as a real-time screening tool to discriminate between columbite-tantalite ores of different provenance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA583230
Entities
People
- Benjamin M. Tansi
- Chunyi Liu
- Jeremiah J. Remus
- Katrina M. Shughrue
- Kehinde S. Dunsin
- Lucille J. East
- Michael A. Wise
- Richard R. Hark
- Russell S. Harmon
Organizations
- Juniata College