December 9, 2013 - PANalytical Boulder introduced the ASD TerraSpec Halo mineral identifier, a handheld, full-range NIR spectrometer for the mineral exploration industry. At 4.5 pounds (2.0 kilograms), the Halo identifier represents the company's lightest and fastest all-in-one NIR instrument available for exploration geology. With one pull of the trigger, this instrument delivers mineralogy results in less than 20 seconds, which significantly speeds site exploration efforts and ultimately saves mine operations valuable time and money.
Ease-of-use features for the TerraSpec Halo instrument include:
- Simple mineral data capture and handling
- Onboard GPS
- Voice recording capability
- Multiple languages for onboard software and user manual
- Extensive spectral library
- Immediate multi-mineral results and scalars
- No third-party hardware
The instrument also includes a proprietary mineral prediction software program that pulls data from a constantly expanding, multi-continent mineral library sourced from the world’s top public and private databases. Geologists can work with PANalytical technicians to design their own libraries as well, further customizing Halo to meet unique needs. New software allows for improved spectra management with simple spectra naming protocols, easy data organization, validation and tagging, and simple data export tools to port data to third-party software like The Spectral Geologist (TSG), Leapfrog and others.
In addition to providing field geologists with real-time information and quicker delineation of alteration halos or clay species delineation, the device can be used in the core shack or on the rig for faster core and drill chip analysis, and in production environments for field confirmation, ore grade control and other purposes.