Minerals & Ores Testing Services
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A Mineral is a naturally occurring substance found under the earth's crust, which has been formed as a result of various Geological processes occurring over substantial periods of time. It would not be wrong to mention that almost each & every utility or commercial substance in the contemporary world has been produced from a particular Mineral or a combination of various Minerals. Nothing can be conceived without Minerals. They constitute the backbone of any nation, since the Economic, Infrastructural & Industrial growth, besides the all-important National Security, of a country depends on its reserves of Minerals & the technology to extract & utilize them.
Minerals and Some of their Uses
Minerals have distinct & characteristic Physical & Chemical properties, & are the primary sources of all the naturally occurring Metals on earth. Minerals can be either Metallic or Non-Metallic, depending upon their compositions. A Mineral may consist of either only one Metal or a number of different Metals. The Study of Minerals is called 'Mineralogy'. The important 'General Characteristics' of any Mineral are as follows:
- Natural Occurrence, i.e., not produced 'Artificially' or 'Man-made'
- Constituent of Rocks
- Inorganic Composition & Usually Abiogenic Origin, i.e., not produced from any living organism like plants & animals
- Physical State - Solid; Stable at normal temperature ranges of the earth's surface
- Fixed (or narrowly variable) Chemical Composition; Either a Pure Element, or a Chemical Compound, or a mixture of Chemical Compounds
- Orderly Crystalline Structure
There are over 4000 Minerals known to mineralogists, who have identified & characterized them based on their Physical & Chemical properties. Some common examples of Minerals are Limestone, Quartzite, Feldspars, Micas, Haematite, Gypsum, Gold, Asbestos, various kinds of gems etc.
Technical Information on Minerals & Ores
- Difference between Minerals & Ores
- Mineral Prospecting & Exploration
- Mineral/Ore Processing or Dressing or Ores Beneficiation
- images of Some Common Minerals
- Difference between Rocks & Minerals
- Classification of Minerals
- Rock-Forming Minerals
- Properties of Minerals
Spectro Analytical Labs Pvt. Ltd. realizes the importance of the aspect of Quality of Minerals, since these are used as 'Raw Materials' in almost all manufacturing industries like Cement, Ceramics, Steel, Paints, Fertilizers, Automobiles, and Semiconductors etc. Spectro has been assisting these industries in selecting the appropriate & suitable Minerals which fulfill the standard specifications set by various National & International agencies.
Some of the Ores & Minerals Tested by Spectro
Iron ores | Maganese Ores | Asbestos |
---|---|---|
Haematite | Maganite Braunite | Chrysolite(White Asbestos) |
Building Stones | Cement Raw materials | Refractory |
Granitee | Gypsum | Sillimanite |
Limestone | Limestone | Kaynite |
Basalt | Bauxite | Andalusite |
Sandstone | Mineral Pigments | Abrasive materials |
Quartzite | Hematite | Graphite |
Talc | Chromitee | Emery Grains |
Slate | Aluminum Ores | Ceramic Materials |
Sillimanite | Bauxite | Kaolin (China Clay) |
Molybednum Ores | Copper Ores | Ball Clay |
Molybdnite | Malachite | Fire Clay |
Wulfenite | Azurite | Wollastonite |
Magnesium Ores | Zirconium Ores | Lead Ores |
Magnesite | Zircon | Galena |
Zinc Ores | Zirconolite | Cerussite |
Sphalerite, Smithsonite | Zircophyllite | Anglesite |
Common Testing Parameters of Minerals
Loss on Ignition | Iron Oxide | Calcium Oxide |
---|---|---|
Acid insolubles | Potassium Oxide | Barium Oxide |
Water solubles | Sodium Oxide | Free lime |
Dead Burnt lime | Silica | Magnesia |
Acid solubles | Phosphates | Manganese |
Moh's Hardness | Zirconium | Fluorine |
Specific Gravity | Heavy metals | Chlorides |
Sieve analysis | Boron | Free lime |
Free silica | Cobalt | Alumina |
Titania | Sulphates | Copper |
Chromium | Zinc | Nickel |
Molybdenum | Tellurium | Carbon |
Lead | Available lime | Carbonates |
Selenium | Ash content |
Major Equipments used by Spectro for Testing of Minerals & Ores
- XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) Spectrometer
- XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) Spectrometer RIGAKU
- CP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometer)
- AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer)
- UV-Visible Spectrophotometer
- Turbidity Meter