Abstract
Polished epoxy grain mounts are commonly used for optical analyses of the heavy mineral fraction of unconsolidated sediments. Yet there has been limited discussion of contamination particular to the preparation of epoxy grain mounts. Examination of 116 thin sections under transmitted and reflected light revealed tin—lead and diamond paste contamination in mineral samples from till collected in central New Brunswick. The contamination was found as fracture infillings and as a separate opaque phase with inclusions of other material. Although it has a striking resemblance to naturally occurring mineralization, the contamination was found to have been introduced during the lapping stage of the preparation of the grain mounts. Such contamination must be expected and identified as a preliminary step in heavy mineral analysis. Misidentification of this contamination could result in erroneous conclusions of syngenesis between it and resistant mineral content of the sample. This could be especially problematic in studies of garnet or sulfide mineralogy.
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