An Ultrasonic Probe for the Extraction of Microscopic Quantities of Minerals for X-ray Work

Veselin Kovachev and Strashimir Strashimirov
University of Mining and Geology “St. Ivan Rilski”, Sofia 1100, Bulgaria

Abstract: The instrumentation and procedure is described for the extraction of very small and pure samples from polished mounts and thin sections of minerals, for X-ray analysis and other micro-analytical techniques. It uses a stand-mounted, tunable ultrasonic probe (400 W/15–50 kHz) inclined at 45°C to a microscope stage. The tip of the probe, usually a steel needle, is located on the desired mineral and an appropriate ultrasonic frequency is selected. Very fine powders are produced from grains as small as 0.01–0.005 mm. A distinct advantage of this technique is that, as different minerals powder at different rates and different frequencies, it is possible to separate a single mineral from an intergrowth of two or more minerals.

Keywords: K-ray analysis • Debye Scherrer • ultrasonic probe • mineral separation

Mineralogical Magazine; October 1996 v. 60; no. 402; p. 829-831; DOI: 10.1180/minmag.1996.060.402.14
© 1996, The Mineralogical Society
Mineralogical Society (www.minersoc.org)