Exploring Rare Earth Elements

Demand for Rare Earth Elements (REE) continues to increase as the globe migrates to renewable energy. Exploration for REE have significantly increased over the last 18 months to meet this increasing demand. In order to match this demand for REE exploration, Portable Spectral Services (PSS) has developed a REE Index for use on portable-XRF instruments, providing […]
Enhancing Geochemical Visualization in Exploration: Part 2

Part 1 One of the fastest ways for humans to store information in their long-term memory is to pair concepts with meaningful images. Visual learning has been found to have cognitive effects which stimulate imagination, therefore, enabling users to process the information faster. Neuroscientists from MIT (1) have found that the human brain can process […]
Enhancing Geochemical Visualization in Exploration: Part 1

Geochemical visualization of identified chemical trends is challenging during exploration when data is limited. While geochemical assay datasets are highly valuable, the use of visual tools can often simplify the ability to identify and track chemical and mineralogical trends and display the key characteristics of an exploration target to a wider audience. To quote American […]
RAMAN Spectroscopy: Rapid identification of lithium bearing minerals

Field identification of mineral phases within LCT pegmatite systems has been made simple with the handheld Bruker BRAVO Raman with duo laser excitation (Figure 1). Figure 1. Bruker’s handheld BRAVO Raman What is Raman spectroscopy? Raman is a form of vibrational spectroscopy that generates a spectrum by directing a monochromatic light from a laser onto […]
Application of Spectral Instruments in Exploration, Discovery and Development of Mineral Deposits: A case history

The application of portable Raman spectroscopy (pRaman), portable XRF (pXRF), and micro-XRF (µXRF) proved invaluable during the exploration, delineation and development of the Sinclair Caesium Mine, Western Australia. This article provides an insight into the application of combined spectral technologies in the exploration for, and development of mineral deposits. An algorithm to estimate the lithium […]
Further Research: Mineral and geochemical characterisation of the regolith profile at the Mt Keith Nickel Deposit

Research and Development is an important part of the Portable Spectral Services ethos, and our Spectral Geologist, Dr Naomi Potter, has recently commenced a research project with Prof. Marco Fiorentini at the University of Western Australia. The project aims to improve the understanding of geochemical processes that occur in the regolith overlying nickel sulphide (NiS) […]
Nickel Sulphides: The flavour of the month

In collaboration with Portable Spectral Services, four companies have utilised μ-XRF technology to gain valuable information from Nickel sulphide samples. Preliminary data on these samples have been released as part of their ASX announcements in the last month to support findings from their respective deposits. Half core samples were analysed with the μ-XRF without any […]