Workshop

1.IAGS 2026 workshop pXRF use (Workshop)

Convenors: Alexander Seyfarth

Topic introduction

Portable XRF (pXRF) has become an established tool in mining, metallurgy and mineral exploration over the last 15 years. Like every other analytical technique, it is not the equipment which is a guarantee for good and suitable data but the knowledgeable user (Sydney Abbey 1981). The need for the user to understand what happens when they pull the trigger and what are the implications on the displayed result, allow them to produce more consistent and suitable data.  The proposed course aims to target new and existing pXRF and users of the pXRF data for geoscience applications to teach the technique as well as the understanding of the data processing algorithms to enable the user to improve data quality and make the right setup choice for their projects. We want to cover the full cycle from planning, campaign and data processing to interested users regardless of equipment used.

Short Course description

Full day short course of a mix of short lectures followed by practical exercises which reinforce the presented topics.

After a brief theoretical introduction, we will investigate the implications of how the signal from the sample behaves with respect to sample homogeneity and sampling depth. From there we will discuss the selection of measurement conditions, applications with respect to elemental range, detection limit and quantification limit. We will test how reproducible is the measurement on various samples and discuss how representative is the sample? We will guide on how select data quality as per “laboratory” practices and how to ensure consistency of the measurement. Additional issues arise when multiple units are used as part of a multiyear project or large project. Leveling data, importing and treating data to get you ready for the data mining part of the project.

Top “take-aways”

·Where can XRF be used for a campaign; combination with other

·How does a sample need to be prepared to be fit for purpose?

·How to include and use appropriate data quality checks for the campaign

·How to investigate traceability to laboratory results and understand underlying “quality”.

·What to do with the data: modelling techniques to discover trends / how to select pathfinders 

2.Advanced Integration ofData–Mathematics–Computation and Intelligent Prediction of Extreme Geological Events (Workshop)

Convenors: Qiuming Cheng, Fan Xiao, Alik Ismail-Zadeh, Emmanuel John M. Carranza, Shaun Lovejoy

In recent years, driven by big international science programs such as Deep-Time Digital Earth (DDE), significant progress has been made in this field. Invited submissions for abstracts and/or full papers include, but are not limited to:

(1) Developments in the Prediction of Extreme Geological Events;

(2) Artificial Intelligence in Geosciences;

(3) Big Earth Data and Cloud Computing;

(4) Advances in Machine Learning Techniques for Geoscience Applications;

(5) Spatiotemporal Data Analytics and Modelling;