Application of SEM and EDS for Phase Characteristics Analysis of Platinoid Mineral in the Danba Area

The study on of occurrence states of PGE resources and the smelting of ore mineral has long been a difficult problem to solve due to low grade copper and nickel sulfide, fine grain and the isomorphism of PGE elements in the Danba area. The phase characteristics and morphological properties of platinum group minerals of copper and nickel sulfide ores in the Danba area by using a combination of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) are presented in this paper. Observations demonstrate that platinoid mineral mainly contains sperrylite, stibiopalladinite and antimony tellurium palladium, secondly native platinum, rhodium arsenic sulfur ore and irarsite, which occurs in pyrite, pyrrhotite and serpentine with shapes of oval and cambiform. Platinum and palladium are the main elements of PGE in copper and nickel sulfide deposits in the Danba area, existing mainly in the form of a single mineral, secondly akin to isomorphism, rarely being a solid solution. The contents of platinoid minerals were qualitatively/quantitatively measured by using EDS rapidly. Tthe test quality percentage of platinum element in sperrylite is 52.84%, and the test quality percentage of palladium in stibiopalladinite is 45.15%, with an error of theoretical value is within 5%. PGE are mainly distributed in the iron sulfide by line and area scanning of EDS, and the contents of PGE such as platinum and palladium, are positively correlated with the contents of iron and nickel, which reflects the siderophile, thiophile and chalcophile geochemical characteristics for Danba PGE deposits.