Key points
- Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) provides rapid, portable laser analysis of elements contained in ore samples.
- LIBS can be used to create mineral maps across commodities, including light metals such as lithium.
- CSIRO is using LIBS in conjunction with other analysis tools to build a more accurate and detailed picture of mineral systems than previously possible.
Critical mineral lithium – the lightest of all metals – had long eluded geologists by slipping through the cracks of traditional analysis.
Its low atomic weight, the very trait that makes it ideal for powering electric vehicles or renewable energy storage, has made it difficult to detect in drillcore samples. This changed when Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) first became available as a tool in the 1960s.
Now thanks to advances to portability and speed, LIBS can be used in the field to create mineral maps of lithium as well as other light metals.
LIBS is a powerful, complementary tool for greenfields exploration through to downstream processing. And while there is continued growing interest in using LIBS for lithium characterisation, its benefits go beyond.
The technology is breaking ground in mining more broadly by enabling fast analysis of more drillcore samples across commodities, without compromising on elemental data quality. From gold and copper to nickel and graphite – LIBS can be used on any mineral system and on any drillcore or chip.
Real-time data for processing plants
According to Geoscience Australia, about 10 millions of metres of drillcore were collected for green and brownfields exploration in Australia in 2024 . But only a fraction of these go on for detailed analysis. Benefits have mostly been realised upstream to date. The costs and time to get assay results are generally incompatible with the day-to-day pressures of continuous mine operations.
Traditionally geologists have trained their eye to look for certain characteristics in rocks, either analysing the drillhole or selecting a core sample about every 20 metres to be cut and sent to laboratories for analysis. But it can then take two to three months to receive assay results.
LIBS is the only field-portable tool that can directly analyse lithium. Instant analysis results can help to quickly close decision-making loops. Faster, more targeted exploration means less unnecessary drilling and more efficient resource use.
