Statistical methods applied to surface chemistry in minerals flotation

US7462819B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO · CA

Inventors

• Roger Smart · Mount Osmond, AU
• Mark Carl Biesinger · London, CA
• Brian Robert Hart · London, CA

Key dates

• Filing date: May 16, 2006
• Grant date: Dec 9, 2008
• Expiry date: Jul 10, 2027

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01J49/0004
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of analysis which couples principle component analysis (PCA) with ToF-SIMS for obtaining surface chemical information from minerals. Statistical methods, based on the monolayer-sensitive time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) technique, combined with principal component analysis (PCA) identifies combinations of factors strongly correlated (positively or negatively) in images or spectra from sets of data. In images, PCA selects these correlations from the mass spectra recorded at each of 256×256 pixels in a selected area of particles. In the image mode, PCA provides a much better method of selecting particles by mineral phase with clearer definition of particle boundaries due to multi-variable recognition.