Kk. Donkor et al., ESTIMATION OF THE FINES CONTENT OF ATHABASCA OIL SANDS USING INSTRUMENTAL NEUTRON-ACTIVATION ANALYSIS, Canadian journal of chemistry, 74(4), 1996, pp. 583-590
Knowledge of the ''fines'' or clay-rich mineral fraction is necessary
for the efficient extraction of bitumen from bulk oil sands, and has e
nvironmental implications in tailings disposal. Current methods for es
timating the fines in oil sand are laborious and of questionable accur
acy. We propose here their estimation directly in bulk oil sand by ins
trumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of the trace and major el
ements determinable. Correlations between fines content and individual
elements fall in the range of 0.80 to 0.81 for dysprosium, samarium,
and europium, and 0.75 to 0.77 for sodium, potassium, aluminum, and ti
tanium. These results follow the expected geochemical relationships be
tween major and trace elements and the mineral fraction of the oil san
ds. Principal component analysis (PCA) using a combination of elements
gave correlations with fines content no better than those obtained fr
om individual elements. However, the PCA approach can be considered mo
re robust. Advantages of INAA over conventional methods to estimate th
e fines content of unprocessed oil sand include minimal sample prepara
tion (including elimination of the use of organic solvents), rapid tur
naround time, and the potential for automation.