Comparative XRD and XRF analysis of selected mine waste samples from Oštreljski Planir dump (Bor, Serbia)

Abstract

Mine waste dump Oštreljski Planir was formed by disposal of overburden from Bor open pit in the period from 1975 to 1980. Aim of this study was to determine chemical and phase composition of eight randomly chosen samples from Ošreljski planir by using x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and x-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analyses, and to compare results of these two methods. It was found that copper concentration in samples from waste dump was in the range from 0.017 % to 41.77 %. Copper minerals (covellite, chalcopyrite and enargite) were detected in samples 1, 2, 3 and 4, while copper minerals in samples 5, 6, 7 and 8 were not detected. The following gangue minerals have also been detected in samples: quartz, albite, dickite, gypsum, siderite and pyrite. Correlation coefficient between XRF and XRD analytical results is close to one (R2=0.9821), which implies that correlation between results is satisfactory.

Keywords

• XRF
• XRD
• Oštreljski planir
• Bor
• mine waste