IN-LINE MASS-TRANSPORT MEASUREMENT CELL FOR IMPROVING QUANTIFICATION IN SULFIDE MINERAL ANALYSIS USING LASER-ABLATION INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY

An in-line mass transport measurement (MTM) cell was developed that fa cilitates quantification of the amount of debris transported to the pl asma as the result of the laser ablation of a wide variety of sulfide mineral sample types. Variation in the amount of material transported to the plasma, as the result of variation in coupling and ablation eff iciency of the laser, has, in the past, resulted in poor signal reprod ucibility and lack of analytical precision. This is particularly true when using the Nd:YAG laser at its fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm, The problem is further exacerbated by the lack of suitable reference s tandards, which provide 'similar' matrices for ablation, This has sign ificantly impacted on analytical accuracy, These problems have slowed the acceptance and application of LA-ICP-MS as an analytical tool. The in-line MTM cell provides a means of determining the amount of materi al transported to the plasma during ablation, Normalization of data, t o the amount of debris produced significantly improved analytical prec ision for a wide variety of sulfide mineral sample types and decreased the dependence on exactly matrix-matched standards. The cell has foun d specific application in the analysis of sulfide minerals for geochem ical exploration purposes.