Provides an up-to-date introduction to the subject of ore microscopy, emphasizing the basic skills required for the study of opaque minerals in polished sections. Describes the modern ore microscope, the preparation of polished and polished-thin sections of opaque minerals and ores, and the identification of these minerals using both qualitative techniques and the quantitative methods of reflectance and microhardness measurement. Later sections discuss the interpretation of textural intergrowths of ore minerals and the determination of their paragenesis, along with the examination of coexisting minerals for determining their physio-chemical conditions of formation. Appendices contain the data necessary to identify approximately 100 of the more common ore minerals and those frequently encountered by the professional scientist.
The Ore Minerals Under the Microscope: An Optical Guide, Second Edition, is a very detailed color atlas for ore/opaque minerals (ore microscopy), with a main emphasis on name and synonyms, short descriptions, mineral groups, chemical compositions, information on major formation environments, optical data, reflection color/shade comparison with four common/standard minerals of a similar color or grey shade, and up to five high-quality photos for each mineral with scale. In addition, the atlas contains a compilation from some of the prominent publications in the field of ore microscopy presented on a list of 431 minerals. - Concise, full-color pictorial reference for scientists and geologists - Explains how to describe and identify microscopic samples of minerals - Draws material from prominent literature yielding more than 400 different minerals
"This book is a very detailed ore microscopy atlas in colour, containing observations for some 430 minerals (mostly opaques and a few gangue minerals). Its main emphasis lies on the display of the respective mineral's most important optical properties (shown in up to 5 high-quality photos for each mineral with scale). The colour plates are supplemented by brief tabulated data, such as name and synonyms, mineral group, chemical composition, major formation environment, reflection colour/shade, and reflectivity. Wherever reflectivity data were not available, the respective value was estimated on the basis of some 4 common/standard minerals of a similar colour or grey shade."--BOOK JACKET.
This book offers a guide to the microscopic study of metallic ores with reflected light. It combines a rigorous approach with an attractive and easy-to-follow format, using high-quality calibrated photomicrographs to illustrate the use of color for ore identification. The ore identification methodology is updated with systematic color analysis and the application of new multispectral reflectance datasets, which offer an efficient tool for automated ore characterization. In addition, the first volume of this two-part work discusses the essential gangue minerals. Readers will gain familiarity with the method as they follow its application to over 200 selected minerals, comprising the most important ore (≈150) and gangue (≈50) minerals, which are described in the text. Each entry includes an explanatory text with corresponding color photomicrographs for each of the most common microscope settings, preceded by a table summarizing the ore’s main properties, and followed by spectral information in the visible and near-infrared ranges (specular reflectance values from 370 to 1000 nm). Some uncommon, strategic ores, e.g. columbotantalite (“coltan”) and monazite, receive particular attention or are described for the first time with reflected light. Lastly, the book presents a learning strategy for beginners and students. The approach is essentially practical, focusing on the development of observation skills, including self-checking through proposed practical tasks. In addition, the traditional use of determinative tables is critically reviewed and updated. This book is part of a two-volume work. The second volume focuses on intergrowths/textural analysis and interpretation, as well as computer-vision-based automation and applications to ore processing/geometallurgy. The intended audience includes professionals and engineers dealing with mineral resources, as well as postgraduate students. The book also provides lifelong learning support for freelancers and a valuable reference resource for practical university teaching.
Invaluable reference for geologists, mineralogists lists and describes about 500 ore minerals according to criteria of "hardness" and "reflectance." Indispensable identification aid. Bibliography.
This book presents recent developments in ore microscopy to support the work of engineers and scientists actively engaged in the field of mineral raw materials (processing plant engineers in mines, process mineralogists and chemists, exploration geologists, etc.) or in ore deposit research. Textural analysis must be rigorous, and simple to be practical. With this aim, the author proposes a specific and user-friendly systematic for textural analysis. A high-performance tool to acquire, quantify, and process the data applied for automated ore characterization is key to predict ore behavior, a fundamental aim of geometallurgy. The recently developed AMCO System (Automated Microscopic Characterization of Ores) provides the tool, first prototype available using computer vision coupled with reflected light microscopy. This innovation is introduced in the text and discussed through case studies of actual mining problems. This second volume of the book "A Practical Guide to Ore Microscopy" includes references, indexes, and other relevant information, plus Annexes 1 to 5. The latter include ore and gangue mineral indexes and mineral abbreviations (Annex 1), a brief compendium of common mineral associations in the main ore deposit types (Annex 2), an introduction to the procedures and techniques used to prepare polished sections (Annex 3), and the various tables used to identify common ores by direct microscopic observation (Annexes 4 and 5).
Introduction to Ore Microscopy is a brief introduction to the science of Ore Minerals. It is designed to help undergraduate and postgraduate students of Geology and Earth Science for their practical course. The book gives a comprehensive, handy and scientific description of ores which form a part of Ore Geology and Economic Geology. Illustrated with a wealth of full-colour and black-and-white polished section photographs, the book explains how to observe ores under the microscope in the reflected light. Besides dealing with the texture, structures, and paragenesis of ore minerals, it also deals with the methodology to study physical and optical characters of important ore minerals, such as Sulphides, Arsenides, Antimonides, Molybdenites, Tungstate, and Oxides ores. A brief description mineral paragenesis, paragenetic diagrams, and some important ore-deposits of India and other parts of the world are also given. The book will also prove to be useful for those working in the mineral industry.
The Primary Scope Of This Text-Book Covers The Transmission As Well As Reflection Optics Of Minerals And The Methods Of Their Studies. To Explain The Optical Behaviour Of Minerals, Some Relevant Concepts In Spectroscopy Have Been Introduced. This Book Fills The Need Of The Students To A Better Understanding Of The Physical Nature Of Minerals Through Studies In Ir-Visible-X-Ray Region.This Book Contains Seven Chapters Titled As: General Optics: Interactions Of Light With Matter, Study In Polarised Light, Optical (Absorption) Sepctroscopic Studies Of Minerals, Reflection Optics, Reflection Spectroscopy, Vibrational Spectroscopy: Infrared And Raman - An Outline, X-Ray Optics. It Also Offers As Appendices The Transmission, Reflection Properties And X-Ray Data Of Minerals.This Is The Only Book That Lucidly Introduces The Principles Of Modern Methods Of Mineral Optics In A Single Volume For The Students Of Graduate And Post-Graduate Levels.
First published in 1989. This book is designed to be an introduction to Ore microscopy, which is the traditional name for the study of opaque minerals using a polarising ‘incident light’ microscope. It is also known as reflected light microscopy. It has applications in the fields of mineralogy, economic geology, mineral dressing, metallurgy and in the study of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks which contain opaque minerals. Although mineral identification is an important aspect of the study of the opaque ores, an examination of the textures and structures is also valuable.
