Heavy Minerals Testing

In geology, minerals are naturally occurred substances found under the earth’s crust, which have been formed as a result of various geological processes happened over substantial period of time. Heavy minerals (HM) usually have densities that are greater than 2.8 g/cm3.Heavy mineral analysis involves comparison of the composition, diversity and concentration of 'heavy minerals' in soils and sediments.The mineral industry consists of two principal product streams; titanium dioxide minerals – in the form of rutile, ilmenite and leucoxene; and zircon. The principal valuable heavy minerals (VHM) include ilmenite, leucoxene, rutile and zircon. Variations of other titanium minerals occur between the end members of ilmenite and rutile, including pseudo rutile and anatase.The heavy mineral assemblage varies according to parent material; these include zircon, tourmaline, iron oxides, garnet, pyroxenes and amphiboles, etc.

Alfa Chemistry has well-equipped laboratories and facilities to test the physical/chemical parameters of your samples.Gravity separation is the most commonly used technique for concentrating minerals. It can determine the amount of gravity recoverable minerals in your ore sample of any size and description. Heavy Liquid Separation (HLS), Dense Media Separation and Electrostatic Separation, Crystalline Phase Identification, Elemental Composition, Particle Sizing, Density, Porosimetry, Surface Area are also offered.

Heavy minerals testing in Alfa Chemistry

Heavy Minerals Analysis can help you understand sediment provenance, dispersal patterns, and in correlating unfossiliferous detrital rocks. At Alfa Chemistry , our tests of minerals mainly include precious metal elements, non-metallic mineral, rare earth elements, minerals composition, and minerals identification,etc.

Combined with other services offered by our team, we offer reservoir quality evaluation, stratigraphic identification, and source analysis of ore,etc., which can be performed on cuttings and cores, on siliciclastic sediments and sedimentary rocks.

Major equipment for heavy minerals testing

• X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer(XRF)

• Flame and Electro-Atom Absorption Spectroscopy(AAS)

• Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry(ICP-AES)

• X-Ray Diffraction Spectrometry(XRD)

• 400MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

• FTIR/Raman Spectroscopy

• Laser Ablation/ Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy-MS

We are professionals who can provide accurate and reliable tests results within the time constraint to identify heavy mineral species within a sediment. We also offer a comprehensive array of services related to water testing, hazardous waste testing, air testing, soil testing, and field testing.Please feel free to contact us if you have any concern or would like us to perform any heavy minerals testing.