RJ Lee Group, Inc. (RJLG) and NYCO Minerals, Inc. recently delivered a joint presentation at the Industrial Minerals Association (IMA) – North America Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C. The presentation discussed the misidentification of an unusual mineral species present in NYCO wollastinite ore. The mineral was incorrectly identified as asbestiform tremolite by another commercial laboratory. The presentation addressed NYCO's exceptional corporate response to the knowledge that asbestiform tremolite may be a component of their ore as well as RJLG's comprehensive scientific investigation of the minerals in question. RJLG presented analytical research results obtained for the mineral species including: Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images, Selected Area Diffraction (SAED) patterns, and Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) spectra. RJLG's results indicated that the unusual mineral species was not tremolite asbestos, but was a non-asbestiform intermediate alteration phase between pyroxene and amphibole to talc. The analytical errors that resulted in the original asbestiform tremolite misidentification by the other laboratory were also discussed.

Please click on the IMA logo on the right to view the presentation. For more information, contact info@rjlg.com.