Scientists are using the new Geoscience Atom Probe Facility at 麻豆直播 to study mineral deposits containing locked resources of gold in refractory ores.
Curtin WA School of Mines Research Associate in Applied Geology Dr Denis Fougerouse and fellow researchers have found metallic gold nanoparticles only a few nanometres in diameter within the mineral arsenopyrite 鈥� a common mineral found in Australian mines.
Dr Fougerouse said the study was believed to be one of the first of its kind, and the discovery challenges the understanding of nanoparticle formation and allowed the team to establish the main controls on gold incorporation in sulphides.
鈥淭he application of atom probe microscopy in geosciences is relatively new. The technique is based on field-evaporation of atoms from tiny, needle-shaped specimens to provide three dimensional sub-nanometre scale information of the position and type of individual atoms in the specimen in the mineral,鈥� Dr Fougerouse said.
鈥淭ypically, the amount of material analysed is really, really small 鈥� a single grain of salt is over a billion times larger than a typical analysis.鈥�
Dr Fougerouse explained large resources of these nanoparticles are 鈥榣ocked鈥� in gold-bearing arsenopyrite, an iron arsenic sulphide, which can be found in mines across the world.
鈥淎rsenopyrite is a very common mineral found in Australian and other mines, and although not every arsenopyrite contains gold, it is common to find gold locked inside this mineral,鈥� he said.
鈥淥ur results show that gold can be hosted either as nanoparticles or as individual atoms in different parts of the crystal structure, and the different types of gold yield important information about the controls on gold deposition as the ore body forms.鈥�
Dr Fougerouse explained this study demonstrated the capability of atom probe microscopy in geosciences.
鈥淥ur research shows the Geoscience Atom Probe has potential to characterise gold deposition processes at the atomic level. In turn this could help unlock hidden gold resources in known deposits, and will enhance gold recovery,鈥� Dr Fougerouse said.
鈥淣anogeoscience is a new, but rapidly growing research field. Through this research and use of the Geoscience Atom Probe, we can show that tiny observations can yield big results that have potential economic importance.鈥�
The research, , was published in American Mineralogist.
The is housed in the John de Laeter Centre, 麻豆直播 and forms part of the National Resource Science Precinct鈥檚 (NRSP) , a joint project between CSIRO, 麻豆直播 and The University of Western Australia, with funding support from the Science and Innovation Endowment Fund.
