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Portable XRF has become ubiquitous

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in the mineral exploration industry,

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from due diligence phase

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prior to a property acquisition

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right through to logging drill core

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at the feasibility study stage

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and every step in between.

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Portable XRF for Mineral Exploration

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Field mapping is done by geologists

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right at the commencement
of exploration.

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During that mapping phase

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XRF can be used with a Geo Pick.

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Rock-chip samples are collected

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by hammering a piece of rock,

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getting it into chips.

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Sometimes they will
smash it up even more

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and put it through a small sieve,

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and then testing those rocks to get

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a feeling for what the
presence or absence

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of the elements of interest

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that they are looking for.

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They can also then
use the onboard GPS

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with the analyzer

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and start creating contour maps

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of areas of high medium
or low concentration

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of the particular elements

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that they are searching for.

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Many of our customers are using

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third-party software
such as ArcPad®

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or Discover Mobile™.

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Because our analyzer now has

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a built-in GPS

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customers will be able to
match their data sets up

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and do real-time field mapping.

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Soil sampling is generally
the first stage

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of any exploration project.

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Portable XRF is the ideal tool.

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XRF is generally used two ways

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during the soil sampling phase.

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Most often grids are set up

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where samples are collected
on a grid spacing

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which will vary depending
on the commodity

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that they are searching for
and the project.

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They will go around
with a portable XRF,

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take samples from the top,

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potentially dig past
the A or B horizon,

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sieve it, analyze it,

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and move on to the next point.

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So the portable XRF provides

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the customer a great, fast tool

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to get through these large size grids

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very quickly.

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The explorer can either test

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the soils in-situ along that grid

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and store the data within the analyzer

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and then go back to the office

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and draw up contour plots.

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The other technique
that is often used

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is collecting of the sample,

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taking all those samples
back to a central location,

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and having the instrument
set up in a field camp

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where they run all the samples
very systematically.

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The other areas where
portable XRF is used

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are during the drilling phase.

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From an RC drill rig

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you get a sample returned,

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you get a drill chip sample

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and you get some fines
out of a cyclone.

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Our customers are using
the field portable XRF

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on both of these and potentially using

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the average function that’s
on board the analyzer

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to get an idea of pathfinders

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or heat values as they
call them in the field

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to make decisions to keep drilling

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or stop drilling.

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RAB and RC,

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the samples retrieved from those

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types of drilling

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are more conducive to XRF results

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because the samples produced

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are very homogenous.

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They are using the field portable XRF

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to pre-screen their samples

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and then they are only sending samples

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that have got known mineralization,

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shown by the XRF,

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back to the laboratory for testing.

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The instruments are also used

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during the diamond drilling phase

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but the rocks are not
homogenous in those cases

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so the results of the instruments
can be variable.

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There are no rules

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with respect to diamond drilling.

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You have to do the work,

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do an orientation survey

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with the instrument to really see

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and compare those results

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with laboratory results
to see if the XRF

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is going to be effective

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on diamond core

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on your particular project.

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In the northern hemisphere

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diamond drilling is the
dominant drilling method.

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And there are hundreds of companies

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using portable XRF as a screening tool

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to give them a feeling for
mineralization

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during the drilling process.