Min Sep

UT Mineral Separation Facilities
The UT rock crushing and grinding facilities include two separate jaw crusher and disc grinder facilities with central dust-reduction and filtration ventilation system. The UT mineral separation laboratory is optimized for the separation of apatite, zircon, monazite, titanite etc. and includes sample washing and drying facilities, a new Gemini water table, sample drying ovens, two large fume hoods with heavy liquids apparatuses, two Frantz magnetic separators, centrifuges, ultrasonic cleaners, and binocular and petrographic microscopes for final sample inspection (see below). The mineral separation facilities employ several undergraduate students. If you are interested in working for us, please contact Daniel Stockli (stockli@jsg.utexas.edu)

UTChron (U-Th)/He Laboratory Picking and Grain Measurement Facilities
The UTChron facility is housed in a dedicated, renovated laboratory sample preparation space at the UT JSG. Mineral grains are handpicked and screened for inclusions using customized Nikon SMZ-U/100 stereomicroscopes with a rotating stages. The stereomicroscopes have both transmitted (polarized) and reflected light capabilities. Prior to loading samples into Pt sleeves, all grains are digitally photographed using Nikon digital cameras and all digital pictures are archived. LabVIEW-based custom codes are used for imaging and morphometrically measure each grain before loading into Pt tubes. These morphometric values are subsequently imported into a LabView routine to calculate the alpha-ejection correction and uploaded to the UTChron database.

The DGS – UTChron Mineral Separation Laboratory includes:

(1) 2x Jaw Crushers

(2) Bico Braun Pulverizer and Cone Crusher

(3) Wilfley and Gemini water shaking table and a Jaspar Canyon Research Zircon Separator

(4) Heavy Liquid Setup for Bromoform, MEI, and LMT

(5) 3x Slope Frantz Magnetic Separator and 1X Vertical Magnetic Separator

(6) 4x SMZU/1000 Nikon Petrographic Stereomicroscopes