MMI™ Technical Bulletins

SGS regularly produces technical bulletins for MMI™ users. These bulletins contain important information on issues such as sampling procedures and problems, the application of MMI™ in various environments and research studies. They are aimed at providing MMI™ users with updated reports on new improvements, breakthroughs or changes to the MMI™ Technique. Please download any of the following Bulletins and feel free to contact us further information

Title: Technical Bulletin TB26: Weak Versus Strong Leachants
Date: December 2007

Overview:  All wet chemical methods of dissolving a soil are a partial digestion – even those involving strong acids.  The question is to what extent.  It transpires that so-called weak extractions (because of their lack of attack on substrate) have some advantages over strong digests which attack and dissolve various soil phases.  This technical bulletin explains what those advantages are, and gives a very clear comparison of the resolution of a VMS ore body under 35m of till at Cross Lake by various weak and strong extractants.  It also explains why it is believed that MMI™ extraction provided greater resolution and contrast in this comparison than any other extractant or digestant (including aqua regia) used.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB24: Lithogeochemistry And MMI™-M
Date: October 2006

Overview: The behaviour of many rock forming elements is dictated by their ionic radius.  Substitution in silicate (and other) mineral lattices is often on the basis of ionic radius.  For example, Pb(II) and Ag(I), commonly very closely associated in some ores, have very similar (large) ionic radii, 1.26Å and 1.2Å respectively.  Elements common in core magmas such as Fe and Ni have divalent cations with ionic radii in the range 0.6 - 0.8Å.  Elements in the periodic table with ionic radii between 0.5 and 1Å are considered "compatible" and substitute or are incorporated into crystallising silicates in early rock formation.  Elements with ionic radii greater than 1 are less commonly substituted, remain behind in residual fluids and are considered "incompatible".
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB20: The Use of MMI™ Ni and Ce for Inferred Geology
Date: March 2006

Overview: The Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia is characterized by a number of “greenstone” belts comprising metamorphosed mafic and ultramafic sequences separated by granitic terrains of slightly younger age. As such the distribution of two elements Ni and Ce is of considerable assistance in delineating geology, particularly as outcrop is often limited and where present is subdued by the extent of weathering.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB19: MMI™ Orientation Surveys in Non Boreal Terrains
Date: March 2006

Overview: MMI™-M - A multi element suite selected from the leach list is recommended initially for orientations.  This approach has provided very useful information in not only pin-pointing target element responses but also providing information on structure, alteration and mineralization halos and lithological setting.

e.g. Porphyry Systems: Cu, Mo, Zn, Cd, Au, Ag, Pb, Co, As, Y, Ce, Nd, Rb, La, Se, W, Fe, Mg
Kimberlite Targets: Cr, Ni, Pd, Mg, Co, Nb, Y La, Ce, Nd,
IOGC Targets: Cu, Au, Ag, U, Th, Co, Ce, La, Mg, Fe,
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB18: Rare Earths and MMI™ Geochemistry
Date: December 2005

Overview: Rare earth elements appear commonly and strongly in partial digestions from a wide range of "unexpected" mineral deposit styles and geological assemblages - komatiitic nickel sulphides, vein-type Au deposits, and kimberlites for example.  Rare earths commonly are thought of as being associated with felsic and granitic rocks and carbonatite mineralization.  Soils over these rock types exhibit concentrations of rare earths commonly of the order of hundreds of ppb in MMI™ digestions.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB15: MMI™-M.  A Multi-Element Partial Extractant for Mineral Exploration
Date: December 2005

Overview: This Technical Bulletin introduces a new multi-element partial extractant MMI™-M.  It provides comparisons between data obtained from previous MMI™ extractants A/B with MMI™-M, along with reproducibility and blank solution analysis information.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB14: Sampling in Boreal Climatic Zones
Date: Revised January 2005

Overview: This Technical Bulletin has been prepared in an effort to clarify the most appropriate sampling positions within soil profiles in Boreal Climatic Zones.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB13-WAMRD9: Solubilities of Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd in MMI™-A Leachants Applied to Carbonate Samples
Date: July 1998

Overview: It is well known that base metals have limited solubility in neutral and alkaline solutions, but high solubility in acid and mildly acidic solutions.  This technical bulletin shows that the MMI™-A leachant is providing a reliable estimate for mobile Cu, Zn and Cd in the concentration range 25ppm total metal to 2500ppm total metal, for soils containing up to 15% CaC03.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB12: MMI™ Analysis for Gold and Silver in Carbonate Environments
Date: 25/06/1998

Overview: The MMI™ geochemical technique has been successful at defining buried mineralization in a range of sampling environments. This technical bulletin looks at in more detail, the effectiveness of MMI™ for Au and Ag exploration in carbonate rich environments. The report looks at several case studies conducted in Australia and Argentina and looks at the implications of carbonate environments on MMI™ geochemical exploration.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB11-WAMRD8: Reproducibility of Data in the MMI Process®
Date: October 1997

Overview: This technical bulletin demonstrates the reproducibility of MMI™ data according to instrument variation, extraction plus instrument variation, performance over time, intra sample variation, replicate analyses, representivity, resampling after rain, compositing of samples and depth sample reproducibility.

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Title: Technical Bulletin TB09: Low Level Gold Analysis after MMI™ Extraction
Date: May 2003

Overview: This bulletin details research to date in the development of improving anomaly resolution by lowering the Lower Detection Limit (LDL) for Au (via method MMI™-B). This can have great significance when sampling in areas of deep transported cover, such as salt lakes and glacial terrains, by achieving natural  background values rather than machine or operator imposed backgrounds. Subsequently, the LDL for Au in MMI™-B has decreased from 0.25 ppb prior to 1997, 0.1 ppb between 1997 and 2003, and now, the new LDL for Au in MMI™-B is 0.01ppb.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB06: The Application of MMI Geochemistry in Deeply Weathered Lateritic Environments
Date: 25/06/1998

Overview: The MMI™ Technique has been successfully applied in numerous countries in areas with deeply weathered lateritic profiles. This bulletin looks at several case studies and discusses the implications for surface exploration geochemistry in lateritic terrain, both in arid and tropical environments.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB05: The Application of MMI™ Geochemistry in Tropical and High Rainfall Environments
Date: 1/11/1997

Overview: A brief look at the effectiveness of the MMI™ Technique in tropical environments where high rainfall and organically rich soils are common. The bulletin draws on the case studies available on the web site as well as orientation studies conducted during research projects.

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Title: Technical Bulletin TB04: Repeat Sampling Study
Date: 1/11/1997

Overview: Any geochemical procedure has a number of variables that can cause reproducibility problems. A study was instigated by MMI™ Technology to identify and investigate a number of variables associated with the MMI process®. Its purpose was to quantify the potential influence that the variables could have on exploration surveys, and also to provide a framework by which users could gauge the quality of their analytical data, in relation to expected parameters established by the survey.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB03:Improving Anomaly Resolution
Date: August 1997

Overview: This bulletin is a worksheet that looks at the advantages of MMI™ partial extractions when compared with total digestions. The worksheet has several activities for the reader to follow. The questions demonstrate the effectiveness of using response ratios when comparing partial extraction with total digestion data.
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Title: Technical Bulletin TB02: Size Fraction Analysis
Date: August 1997

Overview: The influence of specific size fractions on element responses from MMI analyses® has been investigated. Soils from various locations were homogenized and quartered. The split soils were then sieved to various size fractions and MMI analyses® conducted. Results were then compiled to determine the distribution of 9 elements (from MMI™-A and MMI™-B) within the various soil fractions.
Mobile Metal Ion (MMI™) Technology - High Resolution Soil Geochemistry for Mineral Exploration