Quantitative determination of major chemical elements in complete spectral analysis of rocks

Abstract

Rocks, minerals, and ores are often analyzed by the spectral line attenuation step technique. The advantages of this method over other accelerated spectral analysis techniques are the simultaneous determination of many elements, speed and ease of grade estimation over a large range of detectable concentrations. This makes the method promising for geochemical studies over large areas, prospecting and other geological tasks. In this connection, the reproducibility and accuracy of the method were characterized and its capabilities were evaluated. It was shown that the spectrogram allows to take into account the composition of the sample and determine the content of impurities directly from the calibration graph (not in intervals). On the example of a series of determinations of various elements it is established that the average error with respect to chemical analysis is ±25%.