Equipment by Lab Room
The Sample Preparation Laboratory is a collection of six rooms in the sub-basement of the Mitchell Earth Sciences Building. For access to equipment, prospective users must complete the required training with the Laboratory Manager. Please navigate to the Lab Access and Training tab for more information.
For existing users, please reserve the equipment using the Agilent iLab software.
All Sample Prep Lab standard operating procedures (SOPs). Reading the SOP alone is not considered training, and does not grant laboratory users access to the equipment, chemicals, or lab spaces.
Rock Crushing Room (Mitchell A72/A72B)
The SPL rock crushing room is a dedicated space for bulk and fine scale sample hammering, crushing, grinding, pulverization, and sieving. Special training required for access to the crusher/pulverizer. Navigate to the Lab Access and Safety section for more information.
1. Hammer Station
Steel hammer box and plate for manually breaking down whole rock samples. Variably sized sledge hammers and chisels available.
2. Crusher/Pulverizer
BICO-Braun Chipmunk Jaw Crusher (left): For crushing 8-cm size gravel into 2-cm sized gravel.
BICO-Braun Disc Mill (right): For grinding 2-cm sized gravel into fine sand.
Additional safety training requirements for use of this equipment. See the Lab Access and Safety section for more information.
3. Shatterbox
SPEX Shatterbox: Pulverization of large, bulk samples. Various grinding vessels available: 100 mL tungsten carbide and 100 mL alumina ceramic.
4. Ball Mill
SPEX 8000D Mixer Mill: Pulverization of small samples. Various grinding vessels available: 55 mL tungsten carbide, 65 mL stainless steel, or 5 mL polycarbonate.
5. Sieves/Rotary Sieve
Gilson Sieve Shaker (left) and 8-inch Sieves (right): Used for separating mineral grains by size. Also available for check out from the laboratory for field work. Email the Laboratory Manager. 3-inch sieves also available.
Rock Saw Room (Mitchell A54/A56)
1. Various Saws
Top row, left to right: 30-inch Slab Saw: Diamond embedded, rockhound oil as cutting medium. Suitable for especially hard or large samples. MK Diamond 101 Pro Tile 10-inch Saw: Diamond embedded, water as cutting medium. Suitable for softer samples. Coretest DTS-430: Cuts 2-inch lengths, water as cutting medium.
Bottom row, left to right: 1-inch Dual Trim Wafering Saw: Cuts 1-inch lengths, water as cutting medium. Buehler IsoMet 1000 Precision 4-inch Saw: Diamond embedded wafering blade, available for dry cutting or with IsoMet fluid. Various sample holders available. Raytech Diamond 4-inch Saw: Diamond embedded, water as cutting medium.
2. Bench Drills
WEN Bench Drill (left): Used for core creation. Current bit can only accommodate ~1-inch diameter rounds (0.999 inches). More drill bits coming soon.
RYOBI Bench Drill (right): Used for micro-drilling into fine scale sample and fine powder collection.
3. Polisher
Covington Rociprolap: Can polish flat surfaces of up to 6 small rock samples. Various grits currently available: 80 grit, 220 grit, 400 grit, & tin oxide.
Gemeni Room (Mitchell A72A)
1. Gemeni Table
Separates mineral grains by density by feeding sample through a shaking water table.
Mineral Separations Room (Mitchell A55)
1. FRANTZ Magnetic Separators
FRANTZ Magnetic Barrier Laboratory Separator (left): For separating magnetic mineral grains from nonmagnetic mineral grains at 0.5-1.8 Amps. Primarily for removing bulk magnetic grains.
FRANTZ L-1 Isodynamic Laboratory Separator (right): For separating magnetic mineral grains from nonmagnetic mineral grains at 0.5-1.8 Amps. Primarily for small samples. Able to target specific minerals by adjusting angle, slope, speed, and ampere level.
2. Heavy Liquids for Density Separation
Lithium Metatungstate Mineral Density Separation: This procedure is optimized for separating tiny amounts of heavy minerals from samples dominated by less dense minerals using the heavy liquid lithium metatungstate (LMT), a highly concentrated salt-water solution with a normal density of about 2.85 g/cm3. Dense minerals such as apatite (3.1-3.2 g/cm3), zircon (4.68 g/cm3), and sphene (3.48-3.60 g/cm3) will sink, whereas feldspars, quartz, etc., will float. Variations of these methods can also be used for things like:
- Separating zircon from highly mafic rocks
- Separating feldspars from quartz
- Purifying quartz (2.65 g/cm3) by removing trace plagioclase (cosmogenic dating)
- Separating different feldspars (Ar/Ar) - plagioclase: 2.61-2.76 g/cm3; orthoclase: 2.56 g/cm3
- Purifying micas
- Purifying volcanic glass
- Separating microfossils
LMT is generally not needed to separate major phases such as hornblende, biotite, sanidine, etc. Consider hand picking these minerals instead.
Methylene Iodide Density Separation: The heavy liquid methylene iodide (MEI) (CH2I2), also known as diiodomethane, is an organoiodine compound with a density of about 3.32 g/cm3 used for sink/float separations. Denser minerals such as zircon and barite will sink, whereas apatites will float. Common minerals that separate with zircon are also monazite and pyrite. If the sample is particularly pyrite dominated, ask the Laboratory Manager about a nitric acid soak.
3. Ovens
Hamilton Built-In Drying Oven (left): For drying clean, bulk scale samples and equipment. No temperature measurement - only one set unknown temperature.
Fisher Scientific IsoTemp 100L Gravity Oven (right): For drying clean, small samples and equipment. Calibrated in Celsius.