Delivering the power of a 55kV tube optimal for rare earth elements.
SciAps X-555 leads with a 55 kV X-ray tube, the world’s only handheld XRF with this capability. The 55 kV operation, rather than the industry typical 50 kV, delivers higher performance for critical “light” REEs and some “heavy” REEs, making it a superior option for REE analysis.
With the higher voltage, the X-555 effectively analyzes all of the light REEs including lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, and samarium; and heavy REEs europium and gadolinium. An additional X-ray beam setting in the unit provides optimal analysis for heavy REE yttrium, which is a widely used pathfinder for the family of strategic heavy REEs such as dysprosium, thulium and ytterbium. The standard beam also analyzes 30-plus low atomic number elements, transition and other heavy metals of interest to the mining community.
Why a 55 kV X-ray tube? The X-ray energy needed to effectively excite emissions from the light REEs resides in the 40-48 keV range. Typical X-ray tubes in handheld units only operate up to 50 kV, and therefore only a tiny fraction of the X-ray energy is useful for excitation of the REEs.
By operating the X-ray tube up to 55 kV, about 10x more X-ray energy is available to produce emissions from the light REEs and the first two heavy REEs, gadolinium and europium. While it’s not possible to operate a handheld XRF at high enough voltages to usefully measure all heavy REEs, the X-555 provides highly sensitive yttrium analysis, which is a common pathfinder for the heavy REEs.
The X-555, with its exceptional shielding and 4 mm diameter beam collimation, may be used directly on rock surfaces and cores. It can also be equipped with an interlocked test stand for safe analysis of cupped or bagged samples.
Values for interference-free (SiO2) and highly challenging OREAS REE ores containing multiple interfering elements. LODs are for 3-sigma detection above background, 120-second test times.
Element | LOD Interference-fre SiO2 sample | LOD for OREA “real world” samples. |
---|---|---|
La | 13 | 15 |
Ce | 15 | 19 |
Pr | 18 | 34 |
Nd | 27 | 33 |
Sm | 30 | 35 |
Eu | 60 | 120* |
Gd | 90 | 180* |
*“Real world” LODs for Eu and Gd are estimates, not derived from OREAS samples.
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