Laboratory Equipment

Ancient Ores Hold Clues to Early Life

An analysis of sulfide ore deposits from one of the world’s richest base-metal mines confirms that oxygen levels were extremely low on Earth 2.7 billion years ago, but also shows that microbes were actively feeding on sulfate in the ocean and influencing seawater chemistry during that geological time period.

The research, reported by a team of Canadian and U.S. scientists in Nature Geoscience, provides new insight into how ancient metal-ore deposits can be used to better understand the chemistry of the ancient oceans – and the early evolution of life.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2012/12/ancient-ores-hold-clues-early-life

Tiny X-Ray Finds Minerals in Ore

A new state of the art x-ray imaging detector smaller than a postage stamp is the key to a powerful new method of characterizing mineral ores, according to an article published in the October issue of CSIRO’s Process magazine. X-ray vision to characterize mineral ores The x-ray, photon-counting imaging device called Medipix can take high-resolution images of minerals, detailing the materials present in an ore sample.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Tiny-X-Ray-Finds-Minerals-in-Ore-100711.aspx