Presentation Outline: - Challenges with Analyzing Cobalt - Why choose portable XRF for Cobalt Exploration? - Test Results Learn more at: https://www.olympus-ims.com/en/vanta/

1. 1
Breakthrough
Technology for Cobalt
Analysis Using pXRF
TLEM 2018
Simon Bailey & Jake Jarvinen
Olympus Australia

2. Portable X-ray diffraction (pXRD)—rapid, in-situ, and quantitative mineralogy
analysis
Field-Portable Solutions for Battery Metals Exploration

3. Portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF)—rapid, in-situ, and
multielement geochemistry
Field-Portable Solutions for Battery Metals Exploration

4. 1. Provides rapid, in-situ elemental measurements for a range of
geological and environmental applications
2. Provides decision-quality data faster than traditional XRF
3. Allows for more discriminating laboratory sampling
Benefits of pXRF for Exploration

5. With sample preparation, pXRF is capable of producing high-
quality quantitative data similar to laboratory analysis
Benefits of pXRF for Exploration
R² = 0.9806
10
100
1000
10 100 1000
LabResults(ppm)
Standard Si-Pin Omega (Soil Mode) XRF Results (ppm)
Copper(ppm) Log-Log R² = 0.9919
10
100
1000
10 100 1000
LabResults(ppm)
Standard Si-Pin Omega (Soil Mode) XRF Results (ppm)
Lead (ppm) Log-Log R² = 0.9835
10
100
1000
10000
100000
10 100 1000 10000 100000
LabResults(ppm)
Standard Si-Pin Omega (Soil Mode) XRF Results (ppm)
Zinc (ppm)Log-Log

6. 1. XRF is prone to interelement interferences
2. Common interference is iron (Fe) on cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) on Co
− When high Fe is present, the ability to see Co at low levels is diminished
− When Ni is also present, the ability to see Co has been virtually impossible
3. Co is routinely explored for in the presence of significant Fe and Ni
Problems for Cobalt Analysis

7. • Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) looks for the spectral
peaks for each element of interest
• Each element is calibrated using only one peak
• If another element has a peak that is too close to the element of interest
and that element is present in significant concentrations, an interference
results
Problems for Cobalt Analysis

8. • Iron has a peak at 7.06 keV, which is close enough to interfere with
cobalt’s primary peak of 6.93 keV
• Nickel has a primary peak at 7.48 keV, which is close enough to interfere
with cobalt’s secondary peak of 7.65 keV
• To date, no brand of pXRF has a reliable way around this
Problems for Cobalt Analysis

9. Problems for Cobalt Analysis
Fe Kβ, Co Kα
Ni Kα, Co Kβ

10. • When iron and nickel are low, cobalt is easier to detect
• When iron and nickel are high:
−Soil Mode—false positives for cobalt
−GeoChem Mode—cannot see low amounts of cobalt
Problems for Cobalt Analysis

11. • We need a way of being sure of the cobalt values in all scenarios
• We don’t want to have to do too much sample preparation (fused
bead, etc)
• We don’t want to spend too much time (multiple method analyses)
Ultimate Goal of pXRF for Cobalt Exploration

12. • Olympus’ updated GeoChem method improves the analysis of cobalt in
the presence of iron and nickel
• Innovative method of overcoming interferences
• Does it work?
New GeoChem-Co Method

13. • We analyzed 16 samples with high iron
• (9% < Fe < 50%, 50 ≤ Co ≤ 6000 ppm, Ni < 500 ppm)
• We also analyzed 50 samples with moderate iron
• (0.5% < Fe < 15%, 16 < Ni < 8000 ppm, 50 ppm < Co < 2.3%)
• The samples were pulps in XRF cups, 60 seconds per beam, no
corrections
New GeoChem-Co Method

14. New GeoChem-Co Method

15. Results – Cobalt
y = 11395x - 220.54
R² = 0.9778
-1000
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
LabCoppm
Vanta Co %

16. Results – Iron
y = 1.0047x + 1.8432
R² = 0.9421
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
70.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
LabFe%
Vanta Fe %

17. Results – Cobalt
y = 1.1861x - 0.0121
R² = 0.9793
-0.1
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
LabCo%
Vanta Co %

18. Results – Iron
y = 1.025x - 0.0637
R² = 0.9957
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
LabFe%
Vanta Fe %

19. Results – Nickel
y = 1.0419x + 0.0009
R² = 0.9831
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
LabNi%
Vanta Ni %

20. Olympus is a registered trademark, and Vanta is a trademark of Olympus Corporation.