Automated mineralogy is a generic term describing a range of

analytical solution In mathematics, an expression or equation is in closed form if it is formed with constants, variables, and a set of functions considered as ''basic'' and connected by arithmetic operations (, and integer powers) and function composition. C ...

s, areas of

commercial enterprise Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

, and a growing field of

scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and medieval world. The ...

and engineering applications involving largely

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

and

quantitative Quantitative may refer to: * Quantitative research, scientific investigation of quantitative properties * Quantitative analysis (disambiguation) * Quantitative verse, a metrical system in poetry * Statistics, also known as quantitative analysis ...

analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

s and man-made materials.

Technology

Automated mineralogy analytical solutions are characterised by integrating largely automated measurement techniques based on

Scanning Electron Microscopy A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope that produces images of a sample by scanning the surface with a focused beam of electrons. The electrons interact with atoms in the sample, producing various signals that ...

(SEM) and

Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS, EDX, EDXS or XEDS), sometimes called energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA or EDAX) or energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDXMA), is an analytical technique used for the elemental analysis or chemi ...

(EDS). Commercially available lab-based solutions include QEMSCAN and Mineral Liberation Analyzer ( MLA) from

FEI Company FEI Company (Field Electron and Ion Company) was an American company that designed, manufactured, and supported microscope technology. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon, FEI had over 2,800 employees and sales and service operations in more than ...

, Mineralogic from

Zeiss Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur *Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter * Juan Pablo Zeiss (born 1989), Argentine rugby union player * Mary Zeiss Sta ...

, AZtecMineral from

Oxford Instruments Oxford Instruments plc is a United Kingdom manufacturing and research company that designs and manufactures tools and systems for industry and research. The company is headquartered in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, with sites in the United Ki ...

, the TIMA (Tescan integrated mineral analyzer) from TESCAN, AMICS from

Bruker Bruker Corporation is an American manufacturer of scientific instruments for molecular and materials research, as well as for industrial and applied analysis. It is headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, and is the publicly traded parent comp ...

, and MaipSCAN from Rock Scientific. The first oil & gas wellsite solution was launched jointly by

and CGG Veritas in 2011 called RoqSCAN. This was followed approximately 6 months later by the release of QEMSCAN Wellsite by

. More recently in 2016, a ruggedized mine site solution for mining and mineral processing was launched by

called MinSCAN.

Business

The business of automated mineralogy is concerned with the

commercialisation Commercialisation or commercialization is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into ea ...

of the technology and software in terms of development and marketing of integrated solutions. This includes all aspects of:

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

;

maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

;

customer support Customer support is a range of services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, troubleshooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. Rega ...

; R&D;

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

and

sales Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred ...

. Customers of automated mineralogy solutions include: laboratory facilities; mine sites, well sites, and

research institutions A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural sc ...

Applications

Automated mineralogy solutions are applied in a variety of fields requiring statistically reliable, quantitative mineralogical information. These include the following sectors:

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

; O&G;

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

; environmental sciences; forensic geosciences;

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

;

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit ...

;

built environment The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...

and

planetary geology Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of celestial bodies such as planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Although the geo- prefix t ...

History of the use of the term

The first recorded use of the term ''automated mineralogy'' in technical journals can be traced back to seminal papers in the late eighties early nineties describing QEMSCAN technology and applications. The term gained significant popularity after it was used to name a new international conference in July 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Automated Mineralogy Scientific techniques Measuring instruments Mining engineering Natural resources Spectroscopy X-rays

Technology

Business

Applications

History of the use of the term

See also

References