CHARACTERIZATION OF NB - TA CONCENTRATES USING TIMA EQUIPPED WITH WDS SPECTROMETER - NO SPECIES LEFT TO IDENTIFY

摘要

An SEM based mineral analyzer TIMA combined with WDS spectrometer was employed in order to find characteristic features in five samples of Nb-Ta (coltan) ores coming from central and west Africa. Integrated WDS analyzer brings capability to fine tune classification scheme and to distinguish even chemically very similar mineral species. The aim of this study was to prove advantages of such hardware solution for differentiation of coltan concentrates coming from conflict areas of Africa preventing them from entering the market. Analytical as well as spectral resolving capabilities of such device allowed identification of minor and rare phases which proved to be crucial for the differentiation purposes.