Using Corona to test NMR response of iron ore chip samples

Summary

The application of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to investigate the distribution of moisture in materials has not normally been applied to iron ores due to the magnetic properties of iron. However recent test work on blast hole chip samples of iron ore using the very low field Corona system has shown that it is possible to obtain useful information on moisture content. Key to obtaining useful results has been operating the Corona with “burst-mode”, replicating the style of data acquisition used in wireline NMR. The greatly increased signal-to-noise-ratio allowed for more robust inversions and more realistic representation of the moisture distribution in the samples being tested in a manageable time frame. This has allowed us to investigate the relationship between magnetic susceptibility and detected water content using the Corona.

• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
• iron ore
• Corona
• signal to noise ratio
• magnetic susceptibility