Uranium Mining and Exploration Using Portable XRF

By Josh Litofsky

Portable XRF (pXRF) instruments, such as Olympus’ Vanta™ handheld XRF analyzer, can play a critical role in the exploration and mining of uranium ores and deposits by accurately measuring low parts per million (ppm) uranium concentrations in a wide variety of deposit types.

The Vanta pXRF analyzer provides excellent performance in various ore samples, including sandstone, breccias, iron ore copper gold (IOCG), and quartz monzonite—matrices that commonly contain uranium (U) ore. These U-containing deposits and matrix types can be found across the world. Various active mines, including the McArthur River mine, Olympic Dam, Cigar Lake, the Husab open-pit uranium mine, and the Westmoreland Project, all contain these deposit types.¹ The graphs below demonstrate that the Vanta pXRF provides accurate, precise results across all matrices and concentration levels, as indicated by the slopes and R2 being close to 1.

Figure 1. Vanta pXRF performance of uranium and related elements for mining and exploration

While detection of uranium down to low single digits is a requirement for geochemical analysis, many mines need even lower detection limits for common types of exploration. To find regions with these very low concentrations of uranium, pathfinders are commonly used. These pathfinders include elements common to the deposit of interest, such as:

• Nickel (Ni), arsenic (As), molybdenum (Mo), and lead (Pb) in unconformity deposits
• Sulfur (S), titanium (Ti), iron (Fe), selenium (Se), and Mo in sandstone deposits
• Fe, Copper (Cu), silver (Ag), barium (Ba), gold (Au), and rare-earth elements (REE) in IOCG deposits

Advantages of Using the Vanta™ pXRF Analyzer for Uranium Mining and Exploration

Olympus’ Vanta pXRF analyzers offer many analytical advantages and features for uranium mining and exploration,including:

• Inexpensive and minimal sample preparation
• No need for extra hardware or infrastructure, including external power, compressed gasses, or sample chambers and stages
• Rapid and high-throughput testing with fast elemental quantification
• On-site analysis and results in seconds to minimize downtime at the mine or worksite

Learn more about the Vanta handheld XRF analyzer on our website or reach out to your local sales representative to set up a demonstration.

References

1. World Nuclear Association. (2020, September). Uranium Production Figures, 2010-2019. Retrieved March 08, 2021, from https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/facts-and-figures/uranium-production-figures.aspx
2. Vance, R. (2014). Uranium 2014: resources, production and demand. NEA News, 32(1/2), 26.

Josh Litofsky

Application Scientist, XRF Technologies

Josh Litofsky holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Beloit College and PhD in chemical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. For his PhD, he focused his research on advanced characterization of designer materials using X-ray diffraction. From 2019 to 2022, Josh brought his expertise to Evident as an application scientist, supporting our X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers to provide enhanced solutions to customers. In his free time, Josh enjoys running and has run the fastest 100k in the state of Pennsylvania.