Mineral identification using sequential decomposition into elements from mineral definitions
First Claim
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1. A method of determining the mineral present at a point in a sample of unknown composition, comprising:
- directing an electron beam toward a point on the sample to acquire an x-ray spectrum;
providing multiple mineral definitions, each mineral definition including a list of elements, each of the elements having a corresponding standard spectrum obtained from a first number of x-ray counts, the x-ray spectrum of the sample being obtained from a second number of x-ray counts, the second number of x-ray counts being fewer than the first number of x-ray counts for the standard spectrum of each element;
comparing the acquired spectrum to a combined standard spectra of the elements from the element list of each of the mineral definitions;
determining which of the combined standard spectra of elements from mineral definitions best matches the acquired spectrum;
classifying the point on the sample as being composed of the mineral whose definition produced the best match.
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Abstract
Mineral definitions each include a list of elements, each of the elements having a corresponding standard spectrum. To determine the composition of an unknown mineral sample, the acquired spectrum of the sample is sequentially decomposed into the standard spectra of the elements from the element list of each of the mineral definitions, and a similarity metric computed for each mineral definition. The unknown mineral is identified as the mineral having the best similarity metric.
87 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A method of determining the mineral present at a point in a sample of unknown composition, comprising:
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directing an electron beam toward a point on the sample to acquire an x-ray spectrum; providing multiple mineral definitions, each mineral definition including a list of elements, each of the elements having a corresponding standard spectrum obtained from a first number of x-ray counts, the x-ray spectrum of the sample being obtained from a second number of x-ray counts, the second number of x-ray counts being fewer than the first number of x-ray counts for the standard spectrum of each element; comparing the acquired spectrum to a combined standard spectra of the elements from the element list of each of the mineral definitions; determining which of the combined standard spectra of elements from mineral definitions best matches the acquired spectrum; classifying the point on the sample as being composed of the mineral whose definition produced the best match. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of spectrum data analysis, the method comprising:
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acquiring a spectrum of an unknown mineral sample; selecting a mineral definition, the mineral definition including an element list, each of the elements in the element list having a corresponding standard spectrum obtained from a first number of x-ray counts, the x-ray spectrum of the unknown mineral sample being obtained from a second number of x-ray counts, the second number of x-ray counts being fewer than the first number of x-ray counts for the standard spectrum of each element; decomposing the spectrum of the unknown mineral sample using elements from the selected element list; and calculating an overall match probability between the unknown mineral sample and the mineral definition. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of spectrum data analysis, the method comprising:
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a) acquiring a spectrum of an unknown mineral sample; b) selecting one mineral definition of multiple mineral definitions obtained from multiple samples of multiple minerals; c) selecting an element list from the selected mineral definition, each of the elements in the element list having a corresponding standard spectrum obtained from a first number of x-ray counts, the x-ray spectrum of the sample being obtained from a second number of x-ray counts, the second number of x-ray counts being fewer than the first number of x-ray counts for the standard spectrum of each element; d) decomposing the spectrum of the unknown mineral sample to yield compositional values of the unknown mineral sample; e) computing a nearest point in the mineral definition from the compositional values of the unknown mineral sample; f) calculating a mineral probability match for the selected mineral definition g) repeating steps b-f until all of the multiple mineral definitions have been selected. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of spectrum data analysis, the method comprising:
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acquiring a spectrum of an unknown mineral sample; creating a mineral definition by collecting multiple spectrums from multiple samples of a mineral; selecting an element list from the mineral definition, each of the elements in the element list having a corresponding standard spectrum obtained from a first number of x-ray counts, the x-ray spectrum of the sample being obtained from a second number of x-ray counts, the second number of x-ray counts being fewer than the first number of x-ray counts for the standard spectrum of each element; splitting the elemental spectra for the element list into segments based on the number of peaks in the spectrum of the unknown mineral sample; and performing a curve-fitting to fit the segmented elemental spectra against the spectrum of the unknown mineral sample. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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Specification