Australian company uses x-ray vision to detect unseen gold
Baku, August 16 (AZERTAC). Powerful x-rays can now be used to rapidly and accurately detect gold in ore samples, thanks to a new technique developed by CSIRO - a move that could save Australia`s minerals industry hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Working with Canadian company Mevex, CSIRO has conducted a pilot study that shows that gamma-activation analysis (GAA) offers a much faster, more accurate way to detect gold than traditional chemical analysis methods.
This will mean mining companies can measure what`s coming in and out of their processing plants with greater accuracy, allowing them to monitor process performance and recover small traces of gold - worth millions of dollars - that would otherwise be discarded.
GAA works by scanning mineral samples - typically weighing around half a kilogram - using high-energy x-rays similar to those used to treat patients in hospitals. The x-rays activate any gold in the sample, and the activation is then picked up using a sensitive detector.
According to project leader Dr James Tickner, CSIRO`s study showed that this method is two-to-three times more accurate than the standard industry technique 'fire assay', which requires samples to be heated up to 1200°C.
Dr Tickner explains that a gold processing plant may only recover between 65 and 85 per cent of gold present in mined rock. Given a typical plant produces around A$1 billion of gold each year, this means hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold is going to waste.
Other news in this section
