Evaluation of single-use nylon-screened sieves for use with fine-grained sediment samples

Lougheed, H D; McClenaghan, M B; Layton‐Matthews, Daniel; Leybourne, M I

doi:10.4095/315138

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The <250 µm HMC fraction of the four till samples was dry-sieved at the Queen's University Facility for Isotope Research (QFIR, Kingston, ON, Canada) into four smaller size fractions: (1) 185-250 µm, (2) 125-185 µm, (3) 64-125 µm, and (4) <64 µm. The sieving was carried out using single-use, nylon-screened sieves following the procedures developed by Lougheed et al [40]. Table 1 contains the masses of <250 µm HMC prior to sieving, the masses of each resultant size fraction, and the mass loss of HMC material as a result of sieving.…”

Section: Sieving Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploration Potential of Fine-Fraction Heavy Mineral Concentrates from Till Using Automated Mineralogy: A Case Study from the Izok Lake Cu–Zn–Pb–Ag VMS Deposit, Nunavut, Canada

et al. 2020

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Exploration under thick glacial sediment cover is an important facet of modern mineral exploration in Canada and northern Europe. Till heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) indicator mineral methods are well established in exploration for diamonds, gold, and base metals in glaciated terrain. Traditional methods rely on visual examination of >250 µm HMC material, however this study applies modern automated mineralogical methods (mineral liberation analysis (MLA)) to investigate the finer (<250 µm) fraction of till HMC. Automated mineralogy of finer material allows for rapid collection of precise compositional and morphological data from a large number (10,000–100,000) of heavy mineral grains in a single sample. The Izok Lake volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposit, one of the largest undeveloped Zn–Cu resources in North America, has a well-documented fan-shaped indicator mineral dispersal train and was used as a test site for this study. Axinite, a VMS indicator mineral difficult to identify optically in HMC, is identified in till samples up to 8 km down ice. Epidote and Fe-oxide minerals are identified, with concentrations peaking proximal to mineralization. Corundum and gahnite are intergrown in till samples immediately down ice of mineralization. Till samples also contain chalcopyrite and galena up to 8 km down ice of mineralization, an increase from 1.3 km for sulfide minerals in till previously reported for coarse HMC fractions. Some of these sulfide grains occur as inclusions within chemically and physically robust mineral grains and would not be identified visually in the coarse HMC visual counts. Best practices for epoxy mineral grain mounting and abundance reporting are presented along with the automated mineralogy of till samples down ice of the deposit.

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Section: Sieving Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploration Potential of Fine-Fraction Heavy Mineral Concentrates from Till Using Automated Mineralogy: A Case Study from the Izok Lake Cu–Zn–Pb–Ag VMS Deposit, Nunavut, Canada

et al. 2020

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“…The two coarsest fractions (125-185 and 185-250 µm) together represent the fine-sand fraction. The samples were sieved using single-use, nylon-screened sieves following the procedures developed by Lougheed et al [13,43,44]. Sieving of the five Sisson samples produced 20 subsamples.…”

Section: Sievingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated Indicator Mineral Analysis of Fine-Grained Till Associated with the Sisson W-Mo Deposit, New Brunswick, Canada

et al. 2021

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Exploration under thick glacial sediment cover is an important facet of modern mineral exploration in Canada and northern Europe. Till heavy mineral concentrate (HMC) indicator mineral methods are well established in exploration for diamonds, gold, and base metals in glaciated terrain. Traditional methods rely on visual examination of >250 µm HMC material. This study applies mineral liberation analysis (MLA) to investigate the finer (<250 µm) fraction of till HMC. Automated mineralogy (e.g., MLA) of finer material allows for the rapid collection of precise compositional and morphological data from a large number (10,000–100,000) of heavy mineral grains in a single sample. The Sisson W-Mo deposit has a previously documented dispersal train containing the ore minerals scheelite, wolframite, and molybdenite, along with sulfide and other accessory minerals, and was used as a test site for this study. Wolframite is identified in till samples up to 10 km down ice, whereas in previous work on the coarse fraction of till it was only identified directly overlying mineralization. Chalcopyrite and pyrite are found up to 10 km down ice, an increase over 2.5 and 5 km, respectively, achieved in previous work on the coarse fraction of the same HMC. Galena, sphalerite, arsenopyrite, and pyrrhotite are also found up to 10 km down ice after only being identified immediately overlying mineralization using the >250 µm fraction of HMC. Many of these sulfide grains are present only as inclusions in more chemically and robust minerals and would not be identified using optical methods. The extension of the wolframite dispersal train highlights the ability of MLA to identify minerals that lack distinguishing physical characteristics to aid visual identification.

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Evaluation of single-use nylon-screened sieves for use with fine-grained sediment samples

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Exploration Potential of Fine-Fraction Heavy Mineral Concentrates from Till Using Automated Mineralogy: A Case Study from the Izok Lake Cu–Zn–Pb–Ag VMS Deposit, Nunavut, Canada

Exploration Potential of Fine-Fraction Heavy Mineral Concentrates from Till Using Automated Mineralogy: A Case Study from the Izok Lake Cu–Zn–Pb–Ag VMS Deposit, Nunavut, Canada

Automated Indicator Mineral Analysis of Fine-Grained Till Associated with the Sisson W-Mo Deposit, New Brunswick, Canada

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