Research in the Centre for Minerals Research (CMR) was given a shot in the arm in late 2013 with the successful installation of a new R14 million FEI QEMSCAN 650F for automated mineralogy. Funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) National Equipment Programme and the Centre for Minerals Research, the new instrument was delivered and installed in a custom-built facility for high-end electron microscopes and associated equipment, housed in the New Engineering Building on Upper Campus. It replaces the very successful 14-year-old LEO QEMSCAN (donated to the CMR by Anglo American Platinum), which helped establish the mineralogical analyses capabilities of the CMR. The new QEMSCAN will be run as both a university and a regional facility (with the University of the Western Cape, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of Stellenbosch) for the acquisition of high-quality mineralogical data that will be used for world-class research across a broad range of disciplines.
From left: Professor Danie Visser, Dr Rob Schouwstra (Anglo American Technical Solutions), Dr Romilla Maharaj (NRF), Dr Megan Becker, Professor Dave Deglon and Emeritus Professor Cyril O’Connor.
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