MLA

Various calibration steps are necessary before the Mineral Liberation Analysis (MLA). The X-ray spectrometers, the backscattered electron image and the probe current are calibrated. After acquisition of a backscattered electron image, particles are computed from the image information. For this purpose, the background is identified and removed, touching particles are separated and image artifacts are removed. The subsequent segmentation subdivides the different components of the sample by means of the gray values of the backscattered electron image. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectra are acquired from the segmented sample components, depending on the selected measurement mode, grid-like or centroid-based. These spectra can be assigned to minerals or other phases, such as metals or alloys. The assignment is made by directly comparing the acquired spectra of the analysis points to a database of reference spectra.