Canadian Light Source at the U of S Welcomes First Synchrotron Researcher
Posted May 27, 2005
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 27, 2005 2005-05-24-OTHER
Canadian Light Source at the U of S Welcomes First Synchrotron Researcher
SASKATOON - An important milestone was achieved at the Canadian Light Source
(CLS) this week as the national synchrotron facility welcomed its first
researcher from an outside agency, Dr. Allen Pratt of Natural Resources
Canada's CANMET Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories in Ottawa.
Dr. Pratt is using x-rays from one of the synchrotron's beamlines to study
the minerals chalcopyrite and pyrite - commonly known as fool's gold. He is
investigating how to more effectively separate these two minerals and real
gold from raw ore during processing.
"By tuning synchrotron light to certain energies we can build chemical
profiles of the surface layers of a mineral and understand the chemistry and
arrangement of metal atoms on the surface itself," says Dr. Pratt.
"Understanding this surface chemistry improves our ability to extract the
desired mineral or metals from the ore. We can also better understand how to
remove gold from raw ore through the development of leaching methods, which
are much more environmentally sustainable towards extracting gold."
Dr. Pratt was assigned time on the Variable Line Spacing Planar Grating
Monochromator (VLS-PGM) beamline after he submitted a proposal to the CLS
last fall.
"The Canadian Light Source is delighted to welcome Dr. Pratt and his study,"
says CLS Executive Director William Thomlinson. "The arrival of our first
external user is in many ways the culmination of the hard work of everyone
here. Dr. Pratt is the first of a long line of researchers who will use the
CLS to conduct scientific investigation to help better understand the world
around us and benefit Canadians' quality of life."
Officially opened in October 2004, the national synchrotron facility at the
University of Saskatchewan is one of Canada's largest science projects in
the last 30 years. Synchrotron light is used to determine the chemical
nature and the molecular structure of materials, paving the way for new
drugs, more powerful computer chips, better engine lubricants, more
effective medical imaging, environmental monitoring and a host of other
applications for science and industry.
The CANMET Mining and Mineral Sciences Laboratories (CANMET-MMSL) are
federal government research laboratories within the CANMET Mineral
Technology Branch of Natural Resources Canada. CANMET-MMSL provides quality
research and sound scientific advice to the mining and minerals industries,
and to provincial/territorial and federal government departments involved in
promoting or regulating these industries. CANMET-MMSL conducts RandD on a
wide range of processes and technologies involved in extracting ore from the
ground and transforming it into a concentrate, mineral product or metal.
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For more information contact:
Matthew Dalzell
Communications Coordinator
Canadian Light Source Inc
University of Saskatchewan
Ph: (306) 657-3739 Fax: (306) 657-3535
Cell: 227-0978
matthew.dalzell@lightsource.ca
Myrna Parker
Communications Officer
CANMET Mineral Technology Branch
Natural Resources Canada
Ph: (613) 992-1285
mlparker@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca
