Theme: Geochemical Analysis of Minerals

SIMS Short Course

Cost: R6,500

Duration: 2 days, 30 & 31 August 2014

Convenors: Dr Michael Wiedenbeck

Description:

This course is intended for geoscientists coming from either an academic or industrial background, and who have a basic understanding of the chemical analysis of geological materials.  However, the short course specifically targets researchers who have limited or no experience in the use of Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry.  The goals of this two day short course are (1) to describe all key aspects of the SIMS technique, (2) provide an overview of currently available instrumentation types, (3) discuss the types of data which can be obtained using SIMS, and (4) provide a realistic assessment of the strengths and limitations of this class of instrumentation.  This entire package will be set within a context highlighting other competing and/or complementary micro-analytical methods.  At the end of this short course all participants should have a broad understanding of the optimal strategies for determining a mineral's chemical or isotopic composition and the ability to critically assess the resulting data obtained at the micron sampling scale.

Minimum delegates:  10