Microstructure Of Wulfenite, Chalcopyrite, And Barite: Some Mineral Engineering Applications Of The Tem

Abstract

The role of crystal defects and related microstructures in controlling the mechanical properties and other behavior of metals and alloys is well known, and materials characterization, particularly microstructural, has become an integral part of metallurgical and materials engineering. Similar characterization would also seem to be valuable in other more general areas of mineral processing and mineral engineering, particularly since it might be expected that crushing, grinding, leaching, and other forms of extraction of mineral and metal values would also be dependent upon the existing microstructure, or the development of microstructure with processing. While there has been a considerable effort made in recent years to characterize mineral microstructures in general1, there have been few attempts to characterize the microstructures of ore minerals.