PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS

Laser processing of dispersed mineral formations

G. G. Kapustina^a, E. I. Kramar^a, N. A. Leonenko<sup>b

a</sup> Pacific National University
^b Khabarovsk Federal Research Center, Institute of Mining of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract: The paper considers the possibility of using laser technologies for processing mineral raw materials. The article analyzes the effect of laser radiation on natural mineralogical samples of a placer deposit of an aluminosilicate matrix containing metal particles, including gold, in the form of impurities. As a result of laser irradiation on the material under study, the research establishes the formation of fused objects — conglomerates. Atomic and scanning electron microscopy reveals that after laser treatment, the samples were surface-microheterogeneous silicate specks, on the surface of which the formation of agglomerated crystal structures of gold, ranging in size from 300 nm to 30 microns, was revealed.

Keywords: laser radiation, ultrafine and colloidal-ion gold, laser agglomeration, electron and atomic force microscopy.

DOI: 10.23670/IRJ.2021.107.5.002