Optical characterization and signal quantification for onsite application in gold exploration

The mineral resource sector is one of the key industries in Canada and Canadian companies are major stakeholders in global mineral exploration and mining activities, including gold exploration. Prospecting takes time, resources, and substantial financial support. Currently, samples collected in the field are shipped to specialized laboratories for analysis. In addition to substantial costs, results are not received for several weeks. The intern will evaluate a novel instrument to analyze field samples by using changes in light signals. The portable instrument will deliver information at the mining site within 5 minutes and without the need for a highly trained person. This analysis will also provide information on how much gold is present in the sample as well as estimates of size and shape of the gold particles. Successful validation will allow the industry partners to expand into new applications in the mineral exploration sector.

Faculty Supervisor:

Elmar Josef Prenner

Student:

Partner:

Euro-Canadian Industrial Business Services Inc.;APNI Technology Corp

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Mining

University:

University of Calgary

Program: