Masterof Tards,, a portable XRF ( x ray fluorescence) is a hand...

Masterof Tards,, a portable XRF ( x ray fluorescence) is a hand held spectrometer device used on site for instantaneous assaying rocks. Its a rough guide only to composition, although with massive sulphides good correlation with lab assays is often the case. Its a spot assay, so care must be taken in interpreting the result as being indicative or representative of the bulk rocks. Most exploration companies will have one on-site to assist the geos and drillers. So it provides a rough and ready in-situ guidance, not a definitive assay result, and it is not applicable for many minerals, however for copper sulphides and nickel sulphides it is certainly useful where these are substantially present