The magnitude of a number or other mathematical expression without regard to its sign. The absolute value will be positive, whether the original is positive or negative.

The relative proportion of a variable - be it element or mineral.

The iDiscover suite is comprised of a number of modules that can be individually activated for use. The Help | About screen will show your currently activated modules. Modules can be licensed for time-limited trial use, or unrestricted use by selecting the License option from the Help menu.

Two minerals are adjacent or "associated" if a pixel of one of the minerals occurs beside a pixel of the other mineral. iExplorer scans the measured particles horizontally, from left to right.

A representative sub-sample of a single material sample.

A non-inherent feature, introduced during the process of preparation, measurement or processing.

Elemental abundance; as determined by external chemical process(es) or as calculated by QEMSCAN.

The process of comparing QEMSCAN calculated chemical data against measured chemical data to ensure the validity of measurements using an external quality control mechanism.

Two minerals are associated or "adjacent" or if a pixel of one of the minerals occurs beside a pixel of the other mineral. iExplorer scans the measured particles horizontally, from left to right.

The deflection of radiation or particles by electromagnetic or nuclear forces through angles greater than 90° to the initial direction of travel.

The absence of a reference variable (eg. element or mineral).

A line serving as a basis for comparison , as for measurement, calculation, or location.

Polished section used as the medium for a granulated sample to be presented to the QEMSCAN for analysis.

Bulk Mineralogical Analysis Mode. A linear, analysis mode, designed to intercept each particle once to produce high statistics for 1D data.

Operand or expression that can resolve to one of two values, True or False.

A measurement artefact resulting from mixed spectra collected at the interface of 2 or more phases.

Boundary phase artefacts can be corrected at the time of measurement by increasing the resolution, or at the time of processing, via the application of a pre-processor.

The minimum and maximum values allowed for a reference variable.

A reference variable that is not constrained by a maximum and minimum value.

The Back Scatter Electron response, presented in terms of a number between zero and 255 on a grey-scale.

Back Scatter Electron. A relative brightness of a species, as a function of density.

Overall mineralogy on a per-sample basis (as opposed to on a per-fraction, or per-particle basis)

Equivalent to a traditional grain count mineralogy.

A user-defined set of criteria used to define sub-groups within a data set for quantification purposes.

Mineralogical quantification of a samples in order to evaluate a required variable of that sample; eg. bulk mineralogy, estimated grain size, mineralogical association etc.

Elemental abundance; as determined by external chemical process(es)

The Company is the top of the sample measurement hierarchy in iExplorer. It represents an organisation for whom samples are being measured and analysed. If you have to deal with samples from more than one organisation, creating Companies in the iExplorer sample measurement hierarchy allows you to keep their sample data clearly separated, and also allows you to record contact information for the companies.

A Company in iExplorer can have several Operations, representing separate divisions, operations or mines within the organisation.

The chemical composition or makeup of a mineral. The proportion of the elements it contains.

Certain processes are complex and can require significant computer CPU time to complete. These processes are called 'computationally intensive'.

To link structures together. For example, concatenating files appends one file to another.

The number of spectral counts collected at each data point during phase identification.

.dat files are used to store the raw measured data.

iExplorer keeps all of your sample measurement information in databases that we call "Datastores".

A process used within the SIP Editor to locate potential problems within the SIP file.

Mass per unit of volume.

The distribution of a target element between mineral phases that occur within a sample.

Digital Pulse Processor (DPP) used to collate the X-Ray data collected by the detectors.

An image-processing primitive that adds pixels to the surface of each particle.

The spread of occurrences across values within a sampling population

Panels within the iExplorer interface can be 'docked' to the sides of the screen, grouped together, and hidden to maximise screen real-estate.

Digital Pulse Processor - used to collate the X-Ray data collected by the detectors

Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy

Energy dispersive X-ray

Negatively charged sub-atomic particle, produced during the excitation of an atom.

An atomic entity, unique in electronic sub-structure, and therefore chemical nature.

The minimum and maximum values allowed for the reference element.

.ems Spectral Data Files are collected using iMeasure, and used in the SIP Editor when building a SIP profile.

The structured removal of outer layers in order to remove measurement artefacts at the mineral-epoxy interface.

Expressions are the building-blocks for reports in iExplorer. An expression is a sequence of operators and operands, and is applied to a particular context.

An estimated value of a reference phase, from the extension of trends identified from quantified information on that reference phase.

The initial product introduced into the process stream from which the tail and concentrates are derived.

Physical extent of each area scanned between stage movements.

A pre-processor defined to produce a specified sub-population for interpretation.

Mineral treatment process for concentrating the metal-bearing mineral in an ore. Crude ore is ground to a fine powder and mixed with water, frothing reagents, and collecting reagents. When air is blown through the mixture, mineral particles cling to the bubbles, which rise to form a froth on the surface. The waste material (gangue) settles to the bottom. The froth is skimmed off, and the water and chemicals are distilled or otherwise removed, leaving a clean concentrate.

A Fraction is an entity in the sample measurement hierarchy that represents a particular size fraction of a particular Sample of material.

A Fraction will belong to a specific Sample, and has properties that indicate the seive sizes used when splitting the raw material into this fraction.

The material in a Fraction is made into Sample Blocks and then measured in the QemScan SEM. The Fraction might be made into several Sample Blocks, and a number of Measurements made of each block.

If the material in a fraction is unavailable, or cannot be measured for some reason, you can define an Unmeasured Fraction in the datastore. iExplorer can account for unmeasured fractions in its analysis and reports.

Fractioned or "sized" material is a sample that has been split into discrete particle size ranges.

Non-target mineral phases present within an ore.

Each physical occurrence of a mineral.

The size of each physical occurrence of a mineral.

The order inherent in data structure or processes. Or of processors to be applied to data during processing.

High count spectra is produced by gathering an above typical count level, used to produce a higher level of chemical resolution, possibly for system calibration or when developing a SIP.

A chart representing a frequency distribution. Heights of the bars represent observed frequencies.

A mineral grain bounded by another mineral phases.

A contextual occurrence of a variable.

An analytical tool used to acquire data. In this instance, a QEMSCAN.

Magnitude of occurrence of a reference variable.

The measured occurrence of a reference variable; eg. mineral, particle etc.

Repetition of a process in order to improve efficiency and output of successive iterations.

A Job is a collection of Reports that you intend to use together. To work with iExplorer you select and open the Job that you wish to use. This gives you a collection of Reports that you will have previously configured to suit your requirements. You then select from the Datastore a set of sample measurements that will form the statistical basis for your analysis. Your analysis is then a process of opening particular Reports, passing some or all of the Job's selected sample measurements into the report, and examining the results.

A Job always belongs to a specific Operation. The Job can only access Measurements that belong to its Operation.

The degree to which a mineral phase(s) are unencumbered by other phases.

Liberation can be expressed in terms of Area, Volume or Surface Volume.

BMA = Liberation by Area only
PMA/SMS/TMS = Liberation by any variable

The physical point from which the sample is taken. Eg. Drill hole depth, plant location etc.

A property of matter equal to the measure of an objects resistance to changes in either the speed or direction of motion.

The mass of an object is not dependant on gravity, and is therefore different, but proportional to its weight.

The distribution of mass of component products across various stages of an extraction process.

A Measurement is a single set of QemScan measurement data of a Sample Block. Measurements can come in a variety of types, depending on the measurement mode used in the QemScan system.

Measurements are imported into iExplorer using the File / Import / Measurements... menu. You have to open a Job before you can import measurements.

Measurements always belong to the Operation of the Job they were imported into, and can only be accessed by Jobs belonging to that Operation.

You can have as many measurements of the same Sample Block as you like, using whatever measurement modes you wish. However, care should be taken when analysing the results to ensure that you don't end up counting the same data more than once!

iExplorer also allows you to account for sample fractions that you have not measured (i.e. for which you have no measurements or sample blocks). See Unmeasured Fractions for more information on how to use unmeasured fractions.

Images can be copied to the clipboard in Windows Metafile (WMF) format. WMF files are device independent.

The science specialising in the extraction of precious phases (inc metals) from raw materials.

The physical relationship between two or more discrete mineral phases.

The science of the study of the physics and chemistry of natural, solid, crystalline materials.

Of, or relating to, a statistical mode of modes.

Where a mode is an average found by determining the most frequent value in a group of values.

The iDiscover is comprised of a series of modules. iExplorer is a module of iDiscover.

iExplorer uses tree views in many locations to display information. Each location in the tree is referred to as a "node"

Low count spectra can often exhibit noise in their histogram. The higher the count, the less noise is apparent.

Make normal, or cause to conform to a standard. Eg. in the case of mineral abundance, make the population represent 100% of the total possible occurrences, and then back-calculate the relative proportions of the individual phases, to represent the relative percentages of each mineral present.

Conforming to, or constituting a standard of measurement or value.

A quantity on which a mathematical or logical operation is performed.

An Operation is an entity in the sample measurement hierarchy representing a particular division, plant, process or mine for which samples are measured.

The Operation represents the unit within which sample measurements can be compared. All sample measurements belong to a specific Operation, and can only be accessed by Jobs that belong to that Operation. A Job cannot access measurements that belong to another Operation.

An Operation will belong to a particular Company, and can contain any number of Jobs and Measurements.

Material containing phases of economical value.

A geological occurrence of economic phases.

An individual occurrence of two or more mineral phases.

The energy line of a spectra that is representative of an element.

A user-defined entity of interest. Eg. Chalcopyrite, or Cu-bearing phase.

An energy ‘packet’, that constitutes a electro-magnetic field.

Unit area of analysis, with dimensions determined by the elected analytical resolution.

Particle Mineralogical Analysis. A 2D (area) analysis mode.

Number of reference unit measured. Eg. number of particles.

A mathematical process applied to raw data, often used to remove measurement artefacts.

A grouping of SIP entries to define mineral categories. Mineral compositions and densities are applied to each of these primary group entries.

A unit for measurement. Eg. Flotation feed, Drill hole composite etc.

Phase Specific Surface Area.

Pulse Processor - used to collate the X-Ray data collected by the detectors

A mineral existing in the absence of another.

Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals

The analytical platform for the QEM*SEM technology.

The technology created by the CSIRO, used to automatically generate mineralogical data via an electron microscope.

The system parameters used during automatic QEMSCAN operation.

The process of validating data, via an independent data source.

Unprocessed, as-measured data.

File location for the Raw QEMSCAN data.

The convergence of two (or more) common entities.

An additional aliquot of a sample for analysis.

A Report in iExplorer is a plug-in analysis module. It can perform a particular analysis on the sample measurements that you provide to it. Some reports are specialised for performing just one very particular analysis. Other reports are very generalised, and can be tailored to perform a wide variety of functions.

Some typical reports that you can find in iExplorer include:
3D Chart - A general-purpose, customisable, 3D chart.
Modal Analysis - Performs a specialised modal-analysis of your sample measurements
Particle View - Allows you to examine the actual measurement data visually.

You create reports within a Job. Each report stores configuration properties that you set to control how the report appears, and how it analyses the data you give it.

The reports act on the sample measurements that you select into the job. As you change those selections, the report output is updated.

When you have the analysis data that you require, you can copy the results from a report into another application, such as Excel or Word. You can usually copy both chart images and the tabular data they represent.

A Report Template is a preconfigured pattern for a report. You don't actually ever open a report template. Instead, what happens is that a new report is created that has all the settings from the template. You use this with report drill-down, where you can pop up a new report from some subset of the data in an existing report. Rather than having to re-configure the new pop-up report each time you drill down, you can set one up exactly the way you like it - with the right mineral list selected, the panels docked where you like them, the chart captions all set up - then save that as a template.

Whenever you choose to drill down from a report, iExplorer will offer you a list of all your saved templates to choose from. Selecting one does not open the template; instead it creates a new report that is set up exactly like the template.

One point to note about this is that, if you make changes in the configuration of your pop-up report, those changes are not remembered by the template. In order to save the changes you have to save your modified pop-up as a template - either overwriting an existing template, or creating a new one.

The option to save a report as a template is only available in a pop-up report, as a "save" icon in the lower right corner of the report window. Report templates do not appear in the Report menu, but do appear in the Report Explorer. You can use the Report Explorer to delete or rename templates, or change their properties.

A sample that is in all ways an identical sub-set of an original product. Eg. Mineralogically, texturally, chemically identical.

PHYSICAL: The physical area represented by a single point of analysis.
CHEMICAL: The detection level of an element.

A discrete analysis of a sample.

A Sample is an entity in the sample measurement hierarchy that represents a single instance of sample of material being taken from a particular location - a process stream, survey hole or whatever. A Sample represents the raw, unsized material. It has properties that allow you to identify the location that the Sample came from.

A Sample will belong to a particular Survey within the sample measurement hierarchy.

A Sample will have one or more Fractions, representing the size fractions into which the the raw sample material was separated for analysis.

A Sample Block is a physical resin or wax block in which the sample material is embedded. It is polished, mounted in a block holder, and then placed in the SEM for measurement.

Each block is identified by a unique block code, usually embedded in the backing of the resin block. The block code helps to track the block through the measurement process.

You can take several measurements of a block, in a variety of modes, and load them all into iExplorer.

The process of a generating a sample that is representative of the whole, and that is in a suitable format for the elected analysis method.

The dispersion of an entity.

A sample Schema is a way of organising information about a measurement into a hierarchy.

The grouping of primary mineral species, in order to generate a product list for evaluation.

Scanning Electron Microscope

The physical removal of one entity from another. Eg. touching particles, mineral phases.

Simustat provides a simulated spectral response based on a supplied Spectral Data File. This simulated scan data, known as a ‘pseudo spectrum’, allows you to rigorously test the effectiveness of your SIP profile against any number of simulated scans.

Species Identification Profile.
Chemical definitions used during automated analyses.

The file location for the SIP files.

Specific Mineral Search. A 2D analysis mode that measures only particles containing phases brighter than a user-defined threshold.

An entity of interest/importance.

The graphical representation of the distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source.

Lacking in authenticity. Not genuine.

A statistic used as a measure of the dispersion or variation in a distribution.

Equal to the square root of the arithmetic mean, of the squares of the deviation from the arithmetic mean.

Results having an acceptable Standard Deviation. This is application/project dependant.

The quantitative relationship between reactants and products in a chemical reaction.

The quantitative relationship between elements in a mineral phase.

A Survey is a collection of related sample measurements, normally representing a set of Samples taken from a plant or ore body at a particular time.

A Survey has properties that allow you to record the date the survey was made, as well as other details of the survey.

A Survey always belongs to a particular Operation in the sample measurement hierarchy.

The file location for the System Parameter files.

The file containing the SIPCODE definitions.

The waste material from the processing of an ore.

The physical occurrence between two or more mineral phases.

The minimum qualifying level for a SMS or TMS analysis.

A smaller view of an image, for previewing purposes.

Trace Mineral Search. A 2D analysis mode that measures only particles containing phases brighter than a user-defined threshold.

A fraction for which there is chemical or mass information, but which was not analysed by QEMSCAN.

The process of establishing the validity of data.

A formal assertion of validity.

The amount of space occupied by a 3D object, expressed in terms of cubic units.

High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light.